The Election Commission (EC) on Saturday (February 25) wrote to several political parties asking them to avoid making statements that are "against not only the words but also the spirit of law and the Model Code of Conduct (MCC)", thereby expressing disappointment over a series of "inflammatory statements" made by senior political leaders recently "with underlying object of mixing religion with election campaign".
Speeches given by several political leaders in Uttar Pradesh consisted of religious and casteist overtones.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at a rally in Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh on February 19, accused the Samajwadi Party of discrimination on grounds of religion and caste. But PM Modi, himself, seemed to have resorted to discrimination based on religion when he said: "If a village gets a kabristan (graveyard), it should get a shamshaan (cremation ground) too. If there is electricity during Ramzan, there should be electricity during Diwali too. If there is electricity during Holi, there should be electricity during Eid too."
BJP president Amit Shah, at a rally organised in the state's Chauri Chaura town three days after PM Modi's Fatehpur rally, resorted to an acronym based on the 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab when he said: "Ka se Congress, Sa se Samajwadi Party aur B se (BSP)." The comparison with Kasab was strongly objected to by the Opposition parties.
Bahujan Samaj Party Chief Mayawati also addressed a rally in Deoria on Saturday where she said that "Muslims need to vote en masse for the BSP... if Muslims vote for the BSP, the BJP will get a setback and it will not be able to come to power in the state," according to the Press Trust of India.
Content of the letter written by the EC:
The letter written by the EC and addressed to the "president/general secretary/secretary of all recognized national and state political parties", states that according to the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the politicians "should desist from making statements, which have the effect of creating disharmony and ill will between different sections of society on the ground of religion, caste, greed, community and language, as the same disturb peace and tranquillity of the society which is absolutely essential for free and fair conduct of elections".
The letter also highlights the Supreme Court's "deep concern in the matter of mixing religion and caste with election campaign". It also states that the commission "notes with dismay" that its "advisories are not having the desired results" and that it had "recently noted a disturbing tendency of inflammatory statements."
EC's Senior Principal Secretary RK Srivastava lashed out at the politicians for evading the MCC and said in the letter that "sometimes, such statements are being made from a place which is not in the state where MCC is in force". However, "in this electronic age, when a statement is made by a political functionary, it does not remain confined to the audience or place where it is made but instantly travels through TV, social media or print media even to those places/states where election is going on. It undoubtedly has the pernicious effect of influencing the minds of voters of the poll-bound state," he added.
The EC also said that "the far-reaching implication of the statement made thus disturbs the level-playing field and often adversely affects the peace, tranquillity and harmony of the poll-bound area." The commission, through the letter, urged "every responsible citizen and politician" to "observe a self imposed restrain" in "public utterances/speeches/interviews etc during election time... The political leaders need to ensure that nothing in the statement may be construed as mixing of religion and caste etc. with their election campaigns or having effect of causing mutual hatred, disharmony or ill will."
