AGENCIES/ NEW DELHI
The Supreme Court has asked the Election Commission to decide on the complaints submitted by Congress against Prime Minister Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah pertaining to violation of Model Code of Conduct during their election campaigns.
The court will hear the matter on May 6. The poll body has already given a clean chit to PM Modi in the three out 11 complaints against him and Shah.
The Election Commission today gave clean chit to PM Narendra Modi on his ‘nuclear button for Diwali’ remark at Barmer in Rajasthan. This is the third time that the poll body has given green signal to the prime minister. Earlier, the EC had said that PM Modi’s Wardha and Latur speeches are not violation of model code of conduct.
The Election Commission Wednesday concluded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in Latur last month in which he had urged first-time voters to dedicate their votes in the name of the Balakot air strike heroes and the soldiers killed in the Pulwama attack is not violative of its instructions on invoking armed forces in poll campaigns.
Referring to the prime minister’s statement in Latur, the commission said, “The matter has been examined in detail in accordance with the extant advisories, provisions of the Model Code of Conduct and after examination of complete transcript of the speech of 11 pages as per the certified copy sent by the Returning Officer, Osmanabad parliamentary constituency. The commission is of the considered view that in this matter no such violation of the extant advisories/provisions is attracted.”
Addressing a rally in Ausa in Maharashtra’s Latur on April 9, Modi had said, “Can your first vote be dedicated to those who carried out the air strike.” “I want to tell the first-time voters: can your first vote be dedicated to the veer jawans (valiant soldiers) who carried out the air strike in Pakistan. Can your first vote be dedicated to the veer shaheed (brave martyrs) of Pulwama (terror attack),” Modi had said.