The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday sent notices to Congress candidate Priyank Kharge and BJP candidate B.R. Patil, a day after issuing an advisory to check the “plummeting level of campaign discourse” ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections.
The EC’s action has come after a flurry of complaints by the Congress and the BJP against each other’s leaders for bigoted, defamatory or abusive remarks during the campaign in Karnataka that will go to polls on May 10.
On April 28, Patil, also known as Yatnal, likened Congress MP Sonia Gandhi to a “vishkanya (poison maiden)” in retaliation for her party president Mallikarjun Kharge calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “poisonous snake” while campaigning in Ron the previous day.
Koppal district election officer quoted Patil saying in Yalaburga: “Friends, how would one address the Prime Minister of the Country? Being President of Indian National Congress Party? He has been compared with nagara haavu (cobra) and they say that he vomits poison. Your party on whose persona you are dancing, is Sonia Gandhi a vishkanya (poison maiden)? Sonia Gandhi works as an agent of China and Pakistan who have destroyed the country…”
The show-cause notice to him on Wednesday said his remarks amounted to “a personal attack remark against a rival party leader”, which violates four sections of the model code of conduct. Patil has been given time till Thursday evening to respond.
No action, however, has been taken on the BJP’s complaint against Kharge for his remark quoted by Patil. Action has also not been taken on the Congress’s complaints against Union home minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath for claiming without proof that the Congress would lift the ban on the Popular Front of India if elected to power.
The EC, however, sent a notice to Kharge’s son for referring to Modi as “nalayak (useless)” in a speech in Kalaburagi on April 30. He has also been given time till Thursday evening to respond to the charges of violating the same sections that Patil stands accused of flouting.
Campaigning for the Karnataka Assembly elections ends on May 8 and penalties such as gag orders, if any, are likely to be imposed before that.
