EC notice to Giriraj Singh over `Vande Mataram` and `burial ground` remarks

Giriraj Singh has been given 24 hours to respond to the notice.

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Monday issued a showcause notice to Union Minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh over his burial ground and Vande Mataram comments made last week in Bihar's Begusarai.

The poll body said that Singh has violated provisions of the model code and directions of the Supreme Court which had said that religion cannot be used while making statements during campaigning.

He has been given 24 hours to respond to the notice.

The Begusarai district administration had earlier booked Singh for violating the Model Code of Conduct over making the controversial remarks against Muslims at the rally.

"Those who cannot say Vande Mataram or cannot respect the motherland, the nation will never forgive them. My father, grandfather died at the banks of river Ganga and did not need a grave but you need three-arm's-length of land. If you don't do it, the country will never forgive you," the union minister said in Hindi. 

In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, he was barred from campaigning in Bihar and Jharkhand for communal remarks. 

Singh is fighting the election this time from Begusarai.