Second EC notice to Himachal’s BJP chief Satti for remarks against Rahul, Priyanka

lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Apr 19, 2019 23:11 IST

The Election Commission (EC) on Friday barred Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state chief Satpal Singh Satti from electioneering for flouting the model code of conduct (MCC).

The EC prevented Satti from campaigning for 48 hours for using a slur against Congress president Rahul Gandhi during a rally in Ramshaher in Solan district on April 13.

“The commission has observed that the impunged statement made by Sh Satpal Satti is not only indecent but also derogatory and totally uncalled for...” the EC’s order on Friday read.

The ban begins on April 20, from 10 AM.

General elections for four Lok Sabha seats will be held in Himachal Pradesh in the last phase of polling, May 19.

Taking cognisance of a video clip of the speech in which Satti made an abusive remark against Gandhi, the chief electoral officer of the state sought a response from the BJP state president.

In response Satti said that the widely-shared video clip was doctored.

Refusing the charge that he had used abusive language, he said that he was “reading out from a Facebook message” and they were not his own words.

However, the Election Commission found that the speech had violated the Model Code of Conduct which specifies that “criticism of political parties shall be confined to their policies and programme, past record and work.

Parties and candidates shall refrain from criticism of all aspects of private life, not connected with public activities of the leaders or workers of other parties.”

Meanwhile, the assistant returning officer for Hamirpur Lok Sabha constituency served Satti another notice for his remarks over Gandhi’s bachelorhood and his sister Priyanka Gandhi’s attempt to woo voters with her sartorial style, at an election meeting at Bhanjal in Una district on April 14.

The officer, Torul Raveesh, took cognizance of a video clip of Satti’s speech that was forwarded to the EC by its surveillance team.

Priyanka Gandhi is the Congress general secretary for east Uttar Pradesh.

Satti is the longest serving president of Himachal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The three-term legislator from Una lost the 2017 assembly election though his party won in the state.

Sources said that the party has not issued any tour programme for Satti over the next few days.