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By Aishwarya Paliwal: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued notices to both the Congress and the BJP after their complaints against each other over the use of abusive language during campaigning in poll-bound Karnataka.
The notice to the state BJP chief is based on a complaint filed by Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala, who said that the BJP published an advertisement in a leading English newspaper making various claims which, according to the party, are unsubstantiated.
The ECI has given BJP until 8 pm tomorrow to provide verifiable and traceable facts for the claims cited in the advertisement. The saffron party has also been asked to explain why no action should be taken against it for violating the Model Code of Conduct under relevant legal provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, and the Indian Penal Code.
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“While general claims and accusations are a part of the election campaigns, specific allegations and claims about the opponents need to be supported by verifiable and traceable facts. Any claim made without basis and empirical evidence has the potential of misleading the voters thereby robbing them of their right of making right and informed choices amongst the candidate thus disturbing the level playing field,” the poll body notice to the BJP said.
According to an advisory issued on May 7, the poll body had asked parties not to make unverified allegations or claims in advertisements.
In its notice to the Congress chief, Mallikarjun Kharge, the ECI has asked him to clarify and rectify his social media post in which the term ‘sovereignty’ has been used in the context of the state of Karnataka.
The letter sent to Kharge sought clarification and rectification of the social media post made from the official Twitter handle of the Congress and attributed to the chairperson of the party.
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The notice was sent on the basis of a complaint received today from BJP leaders Bhupender Yadav, Dr Jitendra Singh, Tarun Chugh, Anil Baluni and Om Pathak over the May 6 tweet, which read: “CPP Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi Ji sends a strong message to 6.5 crore Kannadigas: Congress will not allow anyone to pose a threat to Karnataka’s reputation, sovereignty or integrity.”
In its complaint, the BJP said: “Karnataka is a very important member state in the Union of India and any call to protect the sovereignty of a member state of the Union of India amounts to a call for secession and is fraught with perilous and pernicious consequences.”
The tweet, the BJP said, is in violation of the mandatory oath taken by the political parties under section 29A (5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 at the time of registration.
Karnataka will vote on May 10 to elect 224 members to the state assembly. The votes will be counted on May 13.
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