Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Friday said the Election Commission seeking a response from the BJP instead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the opposition charge that he gave a divisive speech in Rajasthan showed that it is a "helpless puppet".

Taking cognisance for the first time of a model code violation complaint against a prime minister, the EC on Thursday issued the notice to BJP president J P Nadda seeking his response to complaints filed by Congress, CPI, CPI (ML) and civil society groups regarding the remarks made by Modi on April 21 in Banswara.

These complaints had referred to Modi's allegations that the Congress wanted to redistribute the wealth of the people to Muslims and that the opposition party won't even spare the 'mangalsutra' of women.

In a post on X, Sibal said, "Election Commission(EC): No 'lal ankh' to Modi. Seeks BJP's response for Modi's openly communal utterances. Shows that EC: helpless puppet; dare not send notice to Modi; ignorant of its own MCC; exposes itself to ridicule." Sibal, a former Congress leader who is an independent MP in the Rajya Sabha, alleged that the poll watchdog had "defected" to the BJP.

The Congress had on Thursday claimed that public pressure forced the EC to issue the notice.

The EC is "super, super cautious" when it comes to the prime minister, Congress general secretary in-charge Jairam Ramesh had said.

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