New Delhi: Responding to the complaints lodged by the Congress and Left Parties with the Election Commission stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s campaign speeches are divisive, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president, J.P. Nadda, defended Modi and said all his speeches are based on facts.
In his reply sent to the poll body on Monday, May 13, Nadda also sought action against complainants, alleging them of denigrating Hinduism. Nadda also doubled down, accusing Congress of employing tactics of the Muslim League to bring about a divide between the north and south of the country through economic non-cooperation and linguistic differences. Basically, Nadda was referring to Modi’s statement where the latter had said Congress’s manifesto bears the imprint of the Muslim League.
Calling Hinduism as India’s “foundational religion”, Nadda said the Congress party together with its allies by way of opposing the Prime Minister has been opposing India’s “ancient culture”, the Indian Express reported.
Asserting that Modi’s speeches are based on facts, Nadda said in a democracy it is not only important for voters in a democracy to hear the opposition’s side but also important to understand its “motives”.
Nadda’s letter to EC is in response to a notice served on the BJP chief that Modi, BJP’s star campaigner, had flouted the Model Code of Conduct. Complainants Congress, CPI and CPI (M-L) alleged that Modi’s speech in Rajasthan’s Banswara, his repeated references to Ram Mandir at poll rallies, and labeling Congress’s manifesto as that of Muslim League amount to violations under MCC.
In his speech at Banswara, Modi referred to Muslims and claimed that the Congress, if voted to power, could distribute the nation’s wealth among “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”. “While we have objections to the entire tone and tenor of the Prime Minister’s speech, in this representation we wish to highlight the completely unprecedented and malicious allegations…which are clearly aimed at creating enmity between groups, far worse than any ever made by a sitting Prime Minister in the history of India,” the complaint read.
Nadda sought and was given two deadline extensions of a week each to file his response with the EC. The BJP chief said Modi was only trying to apprise voters of Congress’s “real intentions”, which were to tax heavily and redistribute that in tune with their vote bank politics.
After the complaint, EC had sent the notice to Nadda, instead of directly addressing to Modi. The general practice has been to address the notice directly to the individual concerned in the case of poll code violations.
