File picture: Yashwant Sinha

The model code of conduct has come into force with the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections. But it is actually the code of misconduct which is being followed by some political parties and their leaders.Rahul Gandhi has already repeated for the nth time that the RSS was responsible for killing Mahatma Gandhi. The Aam Aadmi Party is up to its own antics and is supplying the people of this country with its daily dose of drama. There is no doubt that elections mark the advent of the silly season. But, these two developments deserve more than a fleeting glance.The assassins of Mahatma Gandhi were caught, tried and deservedly punished for their crime. There is no doubt that they were Hindu fanatics. But, to suggest that every Hindu fanatic is a member of the RSS is preposterous, to say the least. What does Rahul Gandhi intend to achieve by repeating this tired, old and malicious charge?It is well known that the assassins of Mahatma Gandhi killed him physically but the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi has been systematically destroyed by the Congress party over the years.Perhaps, the sorriest person in the world today at the misdeeds of the Congress party would have been Mahatma Gandhi.It is entirely legitimate for other people, therefore, to pick up the pieces of his legacy and put them together again. Neither Rahul Gandhi nor the Congress party has a monopoly over Mahatma Gandhi. I hope the RSS really takes Rahul Gandhi to court on this issue and gets him punished severely through the due process of law.The attack by Aam Aadmi Party hooligans on the office of the Bharatiya Janata Party at Ashoka Road is despicable. Kejriwal and his ilk have no doubt succeeded in collecting the riff raff of Delhi and have enrolled them as members of AAP. His accidental success in the assembly elections of Delhi has given him a larger than life image.He is now conducting an Ashwamedh Yagya all over the country. In this process, he went to Gujarat. The code of conduct had already kicked in. What he was doing in Gujarat was a clear violation of the code of conduct, so he was stopped by the police to ask some questions. It was entirely legitimate for the police to do so.The AAP decided to retaliate in Delhi where it has these hooligans at its beck and call. The whole country watched in horror the goings-on at Ashoka Road that evening. It was a disgusting sight. No punishment will be harsh enough for the leaders and the followers of AAP for the crimes they committed that evening.Any one who is even slightly familiar with administration knows that once the model code of conduct comes into operation the political masters of the state lose their control over the police and the civil administration which passes directly into the hands of the Election Commission.The policemen who acted against Kejriwal could not, by any stretch of imagination, therefore, be said to be acting at the behest of the Chief Minister of Gujarat or the Bharatiya Janata Party. If anyone has to explain their conduct or haul them up for it, it is the Election Commission.So, why did the goons attack the BJP office? Was there no one in the long list of worthies in AAP who was aware of this simple fact?But the danger is deeper than this simple act of hooliganism.I command the loyalty of a few hundred or even a few thousand people. I have, therefore, the freedom to do whatever I like, break whichever law and ask whatever question of anyone. If any one dares to stop me, my storm troopers will be asked to deal with such elements. Is it not what Hitler did? The easiest way to destroy democracy is to use the freedom it grants to strangle it.Let the country be warned of the dangers such elements create for democracy. Let us safeguard the cherished values enshrined in our Constitution. The coming elections are the most suitable occasion to deal with such elements and teach them a lesson.