lok-sabha-elections

Updated: May 07, 2019 12:44 IST

The Election Commission cleared Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday in a complaint filed by the Congress of model code of conduct violation in an election speech. This is the seventh complaint in which the poll watchdog has cleared Modi.

A person aware of the developments said the poll body also did not find any violation in a complaint filed by the Congress about the PM participating in a so-called ‘road show’ in Ahmedabad after he cast his vote on April 23. The Congress had claimed that the PM went about in an open jeep after he cast his vote, which according to the opposition party, violated the model code of conduct.

The poll body’s clean chit came on a complaint by the Karnataka unit of the Congress that had alleged that on the day of his rally April 9 rally in Chitradurga, PM Modi had asked first-time voters to “dedicate their vote to the Air Force” for carrying out the air strikes at Balakot.

He also asked them to vote for jawans who “were martyred in Pulwama.” This was the same charge against Modi by the Congress for his speech in Latur, which had last week been cleared by the EC.

The second complaint was that Modi had waved at voters on polling day in Ahmedabad while casting his vote. The Congress had complained that while going to cast his vote at Nishan High School in Ahmedabad’s Ranip area on April23 during the third phase of polling, Modi went in an open jeep and waved at the crowd that had gathered on both sides of the road. The local returning officer had, in his report, said that there was no code violation.

“The PM has invoked the army time and again, referring to the Armed Forces as his own forces. He has invoked martyrs of Pulwama to get votes. One doesn’t knows what more is he capable of. But one knows that EC will have a tough time explaining its role in retrospect,” Pranav Jha, Congress spokesperson said.