(L-R) BJP President J P Nadda and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.
Credit: PTI Photos
New Delhi: As their deadline ended, Congress and BJP have sought seven more days from the Election Commission to respond to notices issued to them to respond to complaints filed against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Sources said both the parties were asked to respond to notices of violation of Model Code of Conduct filed against each other by Monday 1 PM but Congress and BJP sought more time to submit their responses.
On Saturday, the EC had written to BJP president JP Nadda on complaints filed by Congress against Modi and Shah as well as to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on a complaint against Rahul, asking the party chiefs to provide their comment.
The EC also reminded both the parties about an earlier advisory sent to them during the Lok Sabha election campaign asking them to ensure that star campaigners refrain from making statements that flout the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct.
In its complaint, the BJP had demanded that Rahul be reprimanded, censured and restrained from "handing out lies" during the election campaign. They also wanted an FIR against Rahul and Kharge too.
The BJP had cited Rahul's comments at a meeting in Mumbai on November 6 where he said that the BJP-RSS wants abolition of the Constitution. They also cited his comments about projects going out of Maharashtra to Gujarat, which the BJP claimed was wrong.
Congress had demanded banning Modi and Shah from campaigning for violating the poll code. Congress referred to Modi's remarks in Nasik and Dhule in Maharashtra on November 8 where he claimed that Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were opposed to quotas for Dalits, tribals and OBCs. Congress said this was "false, malicious and slanderous".
They also complained against the Home Minister's claim that Congress and its allies are against Dalits, tribals and OBCs and promoting terrorism in the country. Shah also claimed that the Congress was planning to do away with the quota regime.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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