Congress accuses Anurag Thakur of violating Model Code of Conduct, seeks EC action
The Hindu
Congress complains to EC against Anurag Thakur for violating MCC with outrageous remarks at poll rally.
The Congress on Saturday complained to the Election Commission (EC) against Union Minister Anurag Thakur for his “outrageous” remarks made at a poll rally, and alleged that it violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that the party has sought an “immediate and meaningful” action against Mr. Thakur, failing which they will “name and shame the offenders”.
Mr. Thakur, addressing a poll rally in Hamirpur of Himachal Pradesh, had accused the Congress of working with a foreign hand to give people’s property to Muslims instead of their children.
“A foreign hand seems to be behind the Congress hand, which wants to hand over your child’s wealth to Muslims and want to finish the country’s nuclear weapons and wants to divide the country on caste and religious basis,” he said.
“You have to decide on whether to support the ‘tukde tukde’ gang of the Congress or stand with Narendra Modi who is making India ‘Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat’,” Mr. Thakur added.
The Congress also said that Mr. Thakur was following the footsteps of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
“@INCIndia has written to the ECI to take note of the speech and issue Mr. Thakur a notice immediately. The ECI must realise that a lack of meaningful action emboldens these bad faith actions. And if they do not take action then we will name and shame these offenders who think they are above the law, both in the arena of the public as well as before the courts,” Ramesh said in a post on X.
The Election Commission has seized a whopping ₹557.69 crore from March 16, when the model code of conduct (MCC) for the Lok Sabha election came into force, till the end of the final phase of polling on May 7 in the State. This is the highest-ever pre-poll seizure that has been done in Karnataka. During the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, ₹88.27 crore was seized, according to data from the Election Commission. This is apart from the seizure of goods worth ₹348.71 crore by the Commercial Taxes Department. These goods include iron ore and ghutka, the proceeds of which would have been used for inducements. Besides, from August last year to March 16, poll personnel seized cash and goods worth ₹537 crore in Karnataka. The seizures include ₹151 crore in cash, liquor worth ₹42 crore, drugs worth ₹126 crore, gold worth ₹71 crore, and other items valued at ₹144 crore.