Congress delegation meets ECI, demands action against PM Modi and Amit Shah over violation of MCC

Nov 28, 2023

New Delhi [India], November 28 : The Congress delegation led by Abhishek Manu Singhvi today met the Election Commission and sought action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Home Minister Amit Shah over violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
The party also flagged for the attention of the Election Commission the tampering of postal ballots by the District Electoral Officer in Pallaghat in Madhya Pradesh seeking immediate action against the concerned officer.
The party sought preventive action in Telangana where it apprehended the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi circumventing the restriction on campaigning during the 'Silence Period' that began at 5 pm today.
A delegation of the party comprising senior leader and CWC member Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Salman Khurshid, Gurdeep Singh Sappal, Pranav Jha, Vineet Punia and others met the Election Commission here today.
Ajay Maken and Ajoy Kumar joined the meeting virtually.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Singhvi said, "The delegation complained on three specific violations, one by the Prime Minister and other two by the Home Minister with video recordings without any ambiguity. The delegation told the commission that the complaint had been filed on November 24 and still no action had been taken."
Abhishek Singhvi observed that it was a matter of the credibility of the Election Commission that it should not be seen as not taking action against the mighty and powerful.
About the tampering of postal ballots in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress delegation demanded immediate action against the concerned officer.
"Who will guard the guardian?" Singhvi remarked.
The senior Congress leader said, "The delegation brought to the attention of the commission that the party had specific information that the ruling BRS cadres were planning to fan out across the state wearing pink T-shirts and sarees donning the colour, logo and symbol of the BRS during the "silence period". This, he observed, amounted to surrogate campaigning during the silence period, which is a clear violation of the code of conduct."
Abhishek Singhvi further said that the commission assured of action. He said the party wanted concrete, immediate and effective action as it was also a matter of the credibility of the Election Commission.