EC issues notices to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Arvind Kejriwal over remarks about PM Modi
The Bharatiya Janata Party accused the two leaders of making unverified and false statements about the prime minister.
The Election Commission on Tuesday issued notices to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly making unverified and false statements about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The commission issued the notice to Vadra after the Bharatiya Janata Party complained against a speech she gave in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh’s Sanwer town on November 10. During the speech, the Congress leader referred to public sector company Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and said: “Modiji, BHEL was providing us employment and taking the country forward...why did you give it to your big industrialist friends?”
On November 1, the Centre had denied that it planned to privatise Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited.
The BJP accused Vadra of violating the Model Code of Conduct by disseminating false information and trying to mislead people. The Election Commission ordered her to respond to the complaint by 8 pm on Thursday.
In the notice to Kejriwal, the Election Commission took note of two satirical posts by the Aam Aadmi Party on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
The first social media post, a video titled “Modi’s fascinating daily routine”, was posted on November 8. The video featured a caricature of the prime minister referring to industrialist Gautam Adani as his “master”, and claimed that he takes directions from him.
The second post, uploaded on November 9, featured a morphed image of Modi in the backdrop of a larger image of Adani. The text in the post read: “I, Narendra Modi, work not for the people, but for my master.”
The BJP alleged in a complaint that through the posts, the Aam Aadmi Party sought to mislead voters for electoral gains.
The Election Commission said in its notice to Kejriwal that on a preliminary reading, it found that the social media posts violated the Model Code of Conduct. It directed him to respond to the allegations by 7 pm on Thursday.