PM Modi did not violate model code of conduct: Election Commission

April 30: Giving a clean chit to Narendra Modi, the Election Commission on Tuesday ruled that the prime minister didn’t violate the Model Code of Conduct in his speech at Wardha in Maharashtra on April 1. The EC held a meeting of all three election commissioners on Tuesday and took this “considered view” keeping in mind the provisions of the code and the report submitted by Maharashtra’s Chief Electoral Officer, the commission stated.

The EC’s decision came a month after the prime minister said at an election rally in Wardha that the Congress was scared of contesting from the constituencies where the majority of the population were Hindus. Modi had accused the Opposition Congress was scared of contesting from the constituencies where the majority of the population were Hindus. The Congress had contended that the comments were “hateful and divisive”.

PM Modi made the remark in reference to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest from a second Lok Sabha seat Wayanad in Kerala. Rahul Gandhi is also contesting from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi.

Several other complaints against PM Modi are pending with the Election Commission.The EC did not take a call on the PM’s speech in Latur, where he exhorted first-time voters to dedicate their votes to CRPF jawans killed in Pulwama, or the IAF pilots who had conducted the air strikes on Balakot. The EC also did not decide as yet whether BJP president Amit Shah’s speech where he invoked the armed forces in an election speech — in alleged violation of the EC’s own directions.