Congress president Rahul Gandhi has told the Election Commission (EC) that he did not violate the Model Code of Conduct and asked it to maintain a fair, non-discriminatory and non-arbitrary attitude in dealing with complaints.
The EC on May 1 had sent a show-cause notice to Gandhi for his speech in Madhya Pradesh’s Sahadol on April 23 in which he alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has made a new rule under which tribals can be shot dead.
Gandhi on Friday told the poll panel that his words, in Hindi, were used in a “free flow of a political speech” and there was no intention of “misleading, misrepresenting or stating false and non-existent facts”.
“The Model Code of Conduct should not be construed in an over-expansive manner against the letter and spirit of the brooding omnipresence of the Indian Constitution,” he said.
Claiming there was no violation of the poll code during his speech, the Congress president said he was targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s policies and programmes.
He said his remarks were part of a political speech criticising the BJP’s “anti-tribal policies”.
Gandhi also requested the poll panel to dismiss the complaint against him and not initiate further action.
He accused the BJP of filing the complaint only to distract him from campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections as he is the star campaigner of his party.
Gandhi said elections are an expression of popular will and the “object of elections cannot be achieved” unless freedom of speech is permitted and the merits or demerits of a policy are exposed for the people to judge.
He also cited a number of statements by BJP leaders, including Modi and party chief Amit Shah, in which some “objectionable” words were spoken while campaigning.
Meanwhile, addressing a rally in Shujalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Gandhi said he would “never hate Modi” as he believed the “PM can be defeated only with love”.
“I don’t hate Modi. Modiji, you can say whatever you want to. Hatred cannot overcome hatred. Modiji cannot be defeated with hatred, he can be defeated only with love,” Gandhi said.
“There is no hatred in the hearts of Congress workers. But there is hatred in the hearts of the BJP, RSS people and Modi. Our job is to end that hatred.”
The Congress president said: “They spew hatred for me, my father, grandmother and great grandfather. But I go and hug him. Get rid of hatred, work with love. You will benefit yourself.”
In other developments, BJP president Amit Shah held a roadshow in Patna, a day ahead of voting in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha polls.
The roadshow was aimed at strengthening the party’s prospects in two prestigious seats - Patna Sahib and Patliputra - going to the polls in the seventh and last phase of voting next week.
Federal Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is the party candidate from Patna Sahib and another minister, Ram Kirpal Yadav, is contesting from Patliputra,, part of the Bihar capital.
Hundreds of people, including party leaders, workers, supporters and sympathisers, stood along the 2km stretch from Kadam Kuan to Udhog Bhawan near Gandhi Maidan. The cavalcade passed through congested and narrow roads.
Congress leaders on Friday said party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra could hold a roadshow in the Bihar capital next week in support of film star-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha, the sitting Patna Sahib MP, who switched over to the Congress from the BJP.
Priyanka Gandhi is yet to visit Bihar to campaign in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s elder daughter Misa Bharti is the party candidate from Patliputra, which she lost to Ram Kirpal Yadav last time.
In Batala, Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said Bollywood star Sunny Deol had come from Mumbai in search of a career in politics since his acting career was virtually over.
The BJP has fielded Deol from the Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat, which, along with 12 other parliamentary constituencies in Punjab, will vote in the final phase.
Negating the prospect of Deol posing any threat to Sunil Jakhar, the Congress candidate and sitting MP from Gurdaspur, Singh said in sharp contrast to Jakhar, who had been working in every corner of the constituency for the past 18 months, the actor-turned-politician had no interest in the welfare of the people of Gurdaspur.
“Sunny (Deol) has come from Mumbai in search of a career in politics since his acting career has virtually ended. The actor has no stake in Gurdaspur,” Singh said.