EC asks BJP, Cong chiefs to comment on complaints filed by both parties against Modi, Shah, Rahul
New Delhi, Nov 16: In the wake of the BJP approaching the Election Commission (EC) against Rahul Gandhi and the Congress against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for alleged poll code violations, the election panel asked the presidents of the two parties on Saturday to comment on the charges levelled against their leaders.
The EC wrote separate letters to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda and Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, asking them to comment on the complaints filed by the other side.
The commission exchanged the complaints between the two parties while seeking their responses.
The EC has sought formal responses from both the party presidents by 1 pm on Monday (November 18), while reminding them of the commission's earlier advisory to them during the Lok Sabha election to keep star campaigners and leaders under check so that public decorum is not flouted and the model code is followed in its letter and spirit during campaigning.
Top leaders of the two parties are campaigning in Jharkhand and Maharashtra for the ongoing Assembly polls in the two states.
During the Lok Sabha election too, the poll authority had exchanged complaints filed by the two parties against the other's star campaigners, including Modi, Shah, Gandhi and Kharge.
According to one of the complaints filed by the Congress, at election rallies in Maharashtra's Nasik and Dhule on November 8, Modi made a series of "false, malicious, and slanderous statements targeting the Indian National Congress (INC) and its allies".
"In his statements, Shri Narendra Modi levelled allegations against prominent leaders of the INC and former prime ministers namely late Jawaharlal Nehru, late Indira Gandhi and late Rajiv Gandhi...," the Congress has told the EC.
It has also accused Shah of making a "slew of false, divisive, malicious and slanderous statements about the Indian National Congress (INC) and its allies" at a poll rally in Jharkhand's Dhanbad on November 12.
"During his speech, Mr Shah alleged that the INC and its allies were against Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBC); promoting terrorism in the country," the Congress has told the poll panel.
The BJP has moved the EC against Gandhi, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, for alleged poll code violations during a rally in Mumbai.
It has accused Gandhi of making false claims that big international brands are opening manufacturing plants in other states at the cost of Maharashtra.
The saffron party has said Gandhi's remarks were false and "totally unverified to true facts".
It has alleged that the Congress leader "distorted the truth by stating that Apple's iPhones and Boeing's airplanes are being manufactured in other Indian states at the expense of Maharashtra.
"Through his statements, Shri Rahul Gandhi has falsely accused other states of stealing and snatching alleged opportunities from the state of Maharashta," the BJP has told the EC.
"He (Gandhi) has been constantly making false, unsubstantiated, unverified and baseless allegations against the BJP. His nefarious attempt to create a rift between the citizens of India on the basis of place, caste and religion is solely aimed to achieve the electoral gains in the ongoing Assembly elections in the state of Maharashtra," it has alleged.
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Guarantees: Siddaramaiah accuses Maharashtra BJP of 'spreading lies,' warns of legal action
Mumbai/Bengaluru, Nov 16: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said he was considering taking legal action against the BJP’s Maharashtra unit alleging it 'spread lies' about the five guarantees implemented by his government.
Addressing a press conference in Mangalwedha in Maharashtra, Siddaramaiah said: “They (BJP) have given a false advertisement in order to mislead the people of Maharashtra." Furthermore, he said he was considering filing a suit against the Maharashtra BJP for spreading lies about the guarantee schemes and its implementation. The Chief Minister said all the five guarantees have been effectively implemented in Karnataka benefiting crores of people.
The CM, his deputy D K Shivakumar and a host of Karnataka ministers, who are campaigning in Maharashtra for elections are reaching out to the people on the five guarantees being implemented in their state.
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These five guarantees are 'Gruha Jyoti' offering up 200 units of free electricity for household connection, 'Gruha Lakshmi' providing Rs 2,000 to the women heads of BPL families, 'Shakti' fare-free bus travel scheme for women, 'Yuva Nidhi' offering Rs 3,000 and Rs 1,500 to unemployed graduates and diploma holders respectively and 'Anna Bhagya' food security scheme for BPL families.
Siddaramaiah asked the Maharashtra leaders to visit Karnataka and see for themselves if the guarantees have been implemented or not.
Attacking the BJP-led Centre for ‘injustice’ to states in the devolution of taxes, the Chief Minister said Karnataka every year pays more than Rs 4.5 lakh crore as central tax and in return gets only Rs 60,000 crore.
"According to my information, Maharashtra is paying Rs 8.78 lakh crore, whereas the Maharashtra government is getting Rs 1.30 lakh crore. That means the Government of India is causing injustice to Karnataka and Maharashtra though Maharashtra is number one and Karnataka is number two in the country in tax collection," the Chief Minister said.
According to him, Maharashtra government was getting 15 paise for each rupee it pays, while Karnataka gets about 13 to 14 paise out of every rupee. Also, the CM said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had claimed that the five guarantee schemes could not be implemented and if at all implemented, the state governments doing so will go bankrupt. While this was the case, the BJP has ironically come up with guarantees in Jharkhand and Maharashtra.
