The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) that came into force across the country on March 16 states that no party or candidate shall participate in any activity that may aggravate existing differences, create mutual hatred, or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic.
A petition to the Election Commission of India (ECI) demanding Narendra Modi’s candidature ban in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on the basis of violation of the MCC has been filed by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR’s) Rajasthan Election Watch, Kamal Tak, state co-ordinator of ADR, said.
Another petition initiated by Subhashini Ali, former Lok Sabha MP and member of CPI (M) Polit Bureau has received over 2000 signatures. The subject of the petition reads, “Requesting action against Shri Narendra Modi, a star campaigner of the Bharatiya Janata Party for his acts of violation of the Model Code of Conduct.” The petitioners have requested the ECI to bar Narendra Modi from contesting the Lok Sabha elections.
A person who signed the petition in Delhi said on the condition of anonymity, “It is absolutely disgraceful on the part of the PM of India to make such derogatory statements against the
Muslim community. Being a Muslim, I am not just appalled but also enraged by his words.” She added that she signed the petition with the hope that the ECI will take necessary actions against the PM.
Following the speech, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge wrote on X yesterday, “Lying for power, making baseless references to things and making false accusations about opponents is the specialty of the training of RSS and BJP (…) In the history of India, no Prime Minister has lowered the dignity of his post as much as Modiji has.”
All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Assaduddin Owaisi took to X, “Modi today called Muslims infiltrators and people with many children. Since 2002 till this day, the only Modi guarantee has been to abuse Muslims and get votes.”
Iqbal Ahmed representative of the Karnataka Muslim Council said, “PM’s statements are election gimmicks to garner votes. This is absolutely wrong. We are all Indians. No community is big or small. The Constitution has given us equal rights. The prime minister’s statement is against the democratic values. Let all communities co-exist in harmony.”
What Modi said:
Addressing a rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara, PM Modi said that if the Congress party comes to power, it would “redistribute wealth” of the people to Muslims. PM Modi quoted former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s remarks made in December 2006: “the minorities, particularly Muslim minorities, should have first claim on the country’s resources”.
According to news reports, Modi said, “Earlier, when their (Congress) government was in power, they had said that Muslims have the first right on the country’s assets. This means to whom will this property be distributed? It will be distributed among those who have more children. It will be distributed to the infiltrators. Should your hard-earned money go to the infiltrators? Do you approve of this?”
No FIR has been registered against the Prime Minister for his speech made at Banswara, Rajasthan yesterday, an officer from Rajtalab police station said.
Akankhya Rout, Arunima Pal, Ashna Mariam George, Lovely Tyagi and Mansi Jagani have contributed to the story.
