On the “sovereignty” row, the commission said it received a complaint on Monday from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Bhupender Yadav, Dr Jitendra Singh, Tarun Chugh, Anil Baluni, and Om Pathak regarding a tweet which appeared on the official Twitter handle of the Congress on May 6.
CPP Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji sends a strong message to 6.5 crore Kannadigas:"The Congress will not allow anyone to pose a threat to Karnataka's reputation, sovereignty or integrity." pic.twitter.com/W6HjKYWjLa
— Congress (@INCIndia) May 6, 2023
In the complaint, the BJP said Karnataka is a very important member state in the union of India and any call to protect the sovereignty of a member state of the union of India amounts to a “call for secession and is fraught with perilous and pernicious consequences”.
Furthermore, according to the complaint made by the BJP, the tweet is violative of the mandatory oath undertaken by the political parties under section 29A (5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 at the time of registration. The clause says that “the association or body shall bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India as by law established, and to the principles of socialism, secularism and democracy, and would uphold the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”.
ECI notice to Karnataka BJP chief for newspaper advertisement
Days after issuing a notice to the Congress for “unsubstantiated” information in a newspaper advertisement, the ECI on Monday sent one to Nalin Kumar Kateel, the BJP Karnataka president for a similar issue.
Kateel was served the notice for publishing an advertisement in The Hindu with “unsubstantiated claims” as alleged by the Congress.
“BJP has been asked to show reasons and provide verifiable and traceable facts by 8 pm on May 9 for the claims cited in the advertisement and explain why action shouldn’t be initiated against them for violating the MCC and relevant legal provisions under RP Act and IPC,” the poll body said.
The commission received a complaint on Monday from Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has published an advertisement in The Hindu making various claims that “the Congress Party has alleged to be unsubstantiated”.
While the commission notes that the criticism of the policy and governance of the opposition parties is a right guaranteed and enshrined in the Constitution as well as an essential function of various political actors under our electoral process.
“However, while exercising this right and performing this essential function, the various political parties are expected to uphold high standards of public discourse and adhere to the various provisions of MCC and relevant laws,” the poll body added.
The notice served to BJP states: “While general claims and accusations are part of election campaigns, specific allegations and claims about the opponents need to be supported by verifiable and traceable facts. Any claim made without basis and empirical evidence has the potential of misleading the voters thereby robbing them of their right of making right and informed choices amongst the candidate thus disturbing the level playing field.”
In the last few days, the ECI had issued a number of advisories saying that the national parties enjoy special enablement under the RP Act, 1951, and thus are expected to be the most compliant to the MCC and legal framework.
On Sunday also, the ECI issued an advisory that unverified allegations or claims should not be made in advertisements.
The commission has directed the BJP to convey the verifiable and traceable facts regarding the claims made in the advertisement given by them along with an explanation, if any, by Tuesday and also put that in public domain.
Failing this, the poll panel has sought reasons for why action shouldn’t be initiated for violating the MCC and relevant legal provisions under the RP Act and IPC.
Corruption rate card row
On Saturday, the ECI issued a notice to KPCC president DK Shivakumar for publishing an advertisement titled “corruption rate card” in newspapers in Karnataka with “unsubstantiated information with respect to alleged rates” cited for appointments and transfers, kinds of jobs and commissions by the BJP.
The 48-hour silence period in Karnataka started at 6 pm on Monday for polls to be held on May 10, with the results to be out on May 13.
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