Congress president Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have told the Election Commission to be “fair and non-discriminatory” in dealing with complaints of poll code breach and claimed “not guilty” of its violation by his charge that the Narendra Modi government has enacted a new law that allowed tribals to be shot at.
Responding to a show cause notice by the EC, Rahul is learnt to have told the poll panel that he had tried to summarise a proposed amendment to the Indian Forest Act in a simple language during a political speech.
He told the poll panel that his words, in Hindi, were used in a “free flow of a political speech” and there was no intention of “misleading, misrepresenting or stating false and non-existent facts”. Rahul also asked the poll body “to maintain a fair, non-discriminatory, non-arbitrary and balanced approach” besides ensuring a level playing field among leaders of national political parties.
He cited a number of statements of BJP leaders including that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, made during campaigning, in which some “objectionable” words have been uttered and which have been decided by “unreasoned and cryptic orders” and that too after more than 40 days of the complaints.
The Congress chief is also learnt to have told the poll panel that the complaint was lodged against him by the BJP only to distract him from campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections as he is the head of a political party and also its star campaigner.
He claimed there was no violation of the Model Code of Conduct by him during his speech and his criticism was confined to the policies and programmes and work of Modi government.
Rahul has argued that an election is an “expression of popular will” and the “object of elections cannot be achieved” unless there is freedom of speech and the merits or demerits of a policy are exposed for people to judge. He claimed that his criticism is not based on unverified allegations.
Rahul said the remarks made by him are part of present political rhetoric, confined to the BJP’s “anti-tribal policies” and urged the commission to dismiss the complaint against him not initiate further action in the matter.
He has also provided a set of documents pertaining to the issue in question as evidence along with his reply.
Citing his speech in Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh on 23 April, the poll panel had on 1 May issued the show-cause notice to Rahul, highlighting a provision of the Model Code of Conduct that barred “unverified” allegations against political opponents.
Two BJP workers had approached the EC with the complaint, following which a report was sought from MP poll authorities.
According to a broad translation of the Hindi speech available on the Internet, Rahul had alleged: “Narendra Modi government has made a new law for tribals in which there is a line that says tribals can be shot at… They snatch your land, take away your jungle and water and then say that tribals can be shot at.”
source: Firstpost.com
 people to vote for Digvijaya Singh and ensure the “triumph of truth”. Amid the chants of “Narmada Maiya Ki Jai” the organisers of the road show said: “vote for Digvijaya would be in the interest of Narmada Maiya…vote for Digvijaya would be in the interest of Gau Mata…”. As the road show proceeded through the narrow lanes and alleys of old City the sadhus appealed to the people to vote for Digvijaya in the interest of Bhopal’s tradition of communal harmony. Slogans invoking Jain seer “Vidya Sagarji Magaraj” were also heard during the roadshow. Chants of “Jai Sri Ram” also rent the air during the road show. A Sadhu was carrying a placard that said “Santo ki hain yahi pukar, badal kar rakh do chowkidar”. It was only at the later stage during the road show that chants of “Narmada Maiya”, “Ganga Maiya”, Gaur Mata”, “sant Samaj” gave way to “Congress Party Zindabad” and “Rahul Gandhi Zindabad”. Digvijaya and his team adopted several other methods to appeal to the voters. One of them was “padyatra” by Digvijaya Singh. During the “padyatra” people not only welcomed Singh but also showered flowers on him. He did “padyatra” continuously for five days. BJP leaders have been alleging that Congress Government’s claim of waiving Kisans’ loan is false. In order to rebut charges, the Congress loaded a jeep with the documentary proof of loan waiver. Several hundred bags of the written proof of loan waiver were taken to the residence of former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Chouhan was taken aback by the Congress move but he still continues to claim that loans have not been waived so far. Besides Congressmen several eminent personalities from various walks of life also lent support to Digvijaya Singh. Such persons came from different parts of the state and also from other states. They included Swami Agnivesh, famous lyricist Javed Akhtar, Prof. Ram Puniyani, and famous anti-communal crusader Suresh Khairnar. Many ordinary persons reached Bhopal on their own. Swami Agnivesh addressed a stormy press conference and also a crowded public meeting. Swami said that Pragya Thakur’s claims that she is a “Sadhvi” is false. She doesn’t possess any quality of being a Sadhvi. Khairnar brought number of documents to prove that she is a criminal and still faces serious charges. She was granted bail on health ground. Her participation in electioneering proves that she is healthy and fit. Khairnar reached the Court to get her bail cancelled. He also criticised the BJP for choosing her as a candidate for Lok Sabha polls. She is a terrorist and by sponsoring the BJP proved that its opposition to terrorism is only superficial.){kind=link}