NEW DELHI: Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Saturday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) with footage of his Kedarnath religious activity circulating over TV channels ahead of the seventh and final phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.


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Taking to his official handle, Yechury further slammed the Election Commission of India (ECI) for continuing to sleep on the job despite reiterating several times that religion cannot be used for garnering votes.


"Religion is a matter of personal faith and EC has reiterated that it cannot be used for garnering votes. But Modi violates the MCC brazenly with footage of his Kedarnath religious activity over TV channels during the silent period before polling. And EC continues to sleep on the job," he tweeted. 



A day after the election campaign ended, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Kedarnath in Uttarakhand on Saturday. He will visit Badrinath on Sunday before returning to Delhi in the afternoon.


The seventh and the final phase of 2019 Lok Sabha elections will take place on May 19, when the voters will decide the political fate of 918 candidates contesting from 59 Lok Sabha constituencies spread across seven states and one Union Territory. 


Voting will be held in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies each in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, nine seats in West Bengal, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat in Chandigarh (Union Territory).