EC issues notice to Rahul Gandhi over poll code violation, seeks reply by Dec 18

The EC on Wednesday issued a notice to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over alleged poll code violation by him in Gujarat.

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for "prima facie" violating the provisions of the election law and the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by giving interviews to TV channels in Gujarat where the final phase of polls is due tomorrow.

It asked Rahul Gandhi to respond to the notice latest by December 18 evening, failing which it will decide the matter without any reference to him. 

Election Commission asks Rahul Gandhi to reply by 5 pm on 18th December over his interview to TV Channels, says 'explain why action should not be taken against you for violating provisions of MCC, failing which Commission will decide matter without any further reference to you' — ANI (@ANI) December 13, 2017

The counting of votes is also scheduled on that day.

In its notice to the Congress president-elect, the poll panel asked him to ''explain why action should not be taken against him for violating provisions of MCC.''

The Election Commission also directed the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Gujarat to lodge FIRs against TV channels that aired Rahul Gandhi's interview as "it violated the law".

"The Election Commission today received reports and complaints to the effect that some TV channels in Gujarat have displayed interview given by Rahul Gandhi of the Indian National Congress, in which Rahul Gandhi has been talking about the election to the legislative assembly of Gujarat, which is currently in progress," the EC said.

Earlier in the day, the BJP had lodged a complaint to the EC regarding the telecast of Gandhi's interview.

"Such display falls within the definition of ‘election matter' under Section 126(3) of Representation of People Act (RP Act), 1951 and display of such election matter within 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for conclusion of poll amounts to the violation of Section 126(1)(b) of RP Act," the poll panel added. 

"The Commission after due deliberations has, therefore, directed the CEO of Gujarat to initiate necessary action by filing FIR against those who have violated the above-mentioned provisions in phase 2 of the polls to be held on December 14," it said.

It also directed TV channels "displaying the said election matter" to "forthwith stop the display of such matter".

''We have been directed by the EC to take actions by filing FIR against violation of 126 (1) (b) of Representation of People Act 1951 in the areas going to polls tomorrow and we are working on it, '' BB Swain, Chief Electoral Officer, Gujarat, said.

In his interview to local TV news channels, Rahul Gandhi slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party BJP for failing to address the real issues of Gujarat and distracting the voters by a misleading election campaign.

He also exuded confidence that his party will make a comeback in Gujarat after a gap of 22 long years.

Meanwhile, the EC notice to Rahul Gandhi evoked a sharp reaction from the Congress party which demanded stringent action against PM Modi, Amit Shah and top BJP leaders for violating the Model Code of Conduct.

A Congress delegation also reached the Election Commission office in Delhi and said, ''PM Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, FM Arun Jaitley and Railways Minister Piyush Goyal have violated Model Code of Conduct again and again. PM misused the FICCI platform to attack Congress. The EC should stay unbiased.''

''In 2014 elections, Modi Ji even showed BJP symbol on voting day but EC didn't act. BJP held a press briefing just before the 1st phase of Gujarat election. These double standards won't work and 1st FIR should be filed against PM Modi and other BJP leaders instead of press,'' Randeep Surjewala, Congress, hit back.