EC noted that “the far reaching implication
of the statement made thus disturbs the level playing field and often
adversely affects the peace, tranquillity and harmony of the poll-bound
area”. (Representational photo)
Dismayed over a series of recent “inflammatory statements” made by senior political leaders “with underlying object of mixing religion with election campaign”, the Election Commission has written to various political parties, asking them to avoid such remarks that are “against not only the words but also the spirit of law and the MCC (model code of conduct)”.
The EC censure comes at a time when the political discourse in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh has taken on religious and caste overtones. At a rally in Fatehpur on February 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while accusing the Samajwadi Party government of discriminating on grounds of religion, said, “If a village gets a kabristan (graveyard), it should get a shamshaan (cremation ground) too. If there is electricity during Ramzan, there should be electricity during Diwali too. If there is electricity during Holi, there should be electricity during Eid too.” Three days later, at a rally in the Chauri Chaura Assembly segment, BJP president Amit Shah came up with the ‘Kasab’ acronym to describe his party’s rivals, saying, “Ka se Congress, Sa se Samajwadi Party aur B se (BSP),” a comparison that caused outrage among the Opposition. PTI quoted Mayawati as telling people at a rally in Deoria on Saturday that “Muslims need to vote en masse for the BSP… if Muslims vote for the BSP, the BJP will get a setback and it will not be able to come to power in the state”.
The EC letter, dated February 25 and addressed to the “president/general secretary/secretary of all recognized national and state political parties”, states that the Representation of the People Act, 1951, provides that politicians “should desist from making statements, which have the effect of creating disharmony and ill-will between different sections of society on the ground of religion, caste, greed, community and language, as the same disturb peace and tranquillity of the society which is absolutely essential for free and fair conduct of elections”.
Signed by EC’s Senior Principal Secretary R K Srivastava, the letter quotes the Supreme Court, which “has also recently expressed its deep concern in the matter of mixing religion and caste with election campaign”.
The letter said the Commission “notes with dismay” that its “advisories are not having the desired results” and that it had “recently noted a disturbing tendency of inflammatory statements”.
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Slamming the tendency of politicians to circumvent the model code of conduct, Srivastava wrote that “sometimes, such statements are being made from a place which is not in the state where MCC is in force”. However, “in this electronic age, when a statement is made by a political functionary, it does not remain confined to the audience or place where it is made but instantly travels through TV, social media or print media even to those places/states where election is going on. It undoubtedly has the pernicious effect of influencing the minds of voters of the poll-bound state,” he wrote.
The Commission noted that “the far reaching implication of the statement made thus disturbs the level playing field and often adversely affects the peace, tranquillity and harmony of the poll-bound area”.
The commission urged “every responsible citizen and politician” to “observe a self imposed restrain” in “public utterances/speeches/interviews etc during election time… The political leaders need to ensure that nothing in the statement may be construed as mixing of religion and caste etc with their election campaigns or having effect of causing mutual hatred, disharmony or ill will…”
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