India’s Election Commission asks BJP, Congress to maintain decorum during campaigning
India’s Election Commission asks BJP, Congress to maintain decorum during campaigning
Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday (May 22) asked Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda and Indian National Congress (INC) chief Mallikarjun Kharge to issue formal notes to star campaigners to correct their discourse, exercise care and maintain decorum.
The Election Commission asked the parties to desist from campaigning along the lines of caste, community, language and religion during the Lok Sabha election.
The unprecedented orders to BJP and INC came in the wake of the deteriorating quality of campaigning led by some of their star campaigners.
The ECI said, "Elections are a process where political parties not only contest to win but also present themselves in their ideal best for the voting community to experience, emulate, and build hopes on."
"The second part constitutes a precious heritage of Indian elections and our electoral democracy, which should not be weakened by anyone, including your party," it added.
The poll watchdog rejected Nadda's defence and asked him and his party's star campaigners to desist from campaigning on religious and communal lines almost a month after it issued notice to the BJP president on an opposition charge that PM Modi gave a divisive speech in Rajasthan's Banswara.
Without mentioning any name, the poll body also asked the BJP to stop campaign speeches that may divide society.
The EC also issued a similar notice to Kharge. It asked him to respond to the complaints filed by the BJP against him and the main opposition party's senior leader Rahul Gandhi regarding their remarks. It asked the opposition to ensure statements are not being made that may give false impressions such as regarding the Constitution of India.
"After such careful consideration and also in the context of the foregoing, the Commission, in totality of the material before it, as narrated above finds that the defence offered on alleged utterances, not tenable," said EC in separate letters to Nadda and Kharge.
(With inputs from agencies)