Modi’s contempt for EC
Gujarat chief minister and BJP candidate from Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency, Mr Narendra Modi has been consistently violating the election laws and the model code of conduct during the ongoing campaigning.
The Election Commission’s direction to the Gujarat government for registration of an FIR against him on Wednesday is only an indication of the habitual offences being committed by Mr Modi and the BJP.
The Aam Aadmi Party has drawn the EC’s attention towards its pending complaints against Mr Modi for his attempts to bribe the voters of Varanasi by distributing free sarees and other freebies to the voters when he filed his nomination on April 24. (The party has already provided the EC with photographic and documentary evidence).
According to the AAP, the EC should order immediate registration of an FIR against Mr Modi under sections 171 B of the Indian Penal Code, which defines bribery during elections as : “a gratification to any person with the object of inducing him or any other person to exercise any electoral right or of rewarding any person for having exercised any such right.”
The AAP, in its complaint has also demanded that the EC should direct the Varanasi administration to add section 171E of the IPC in its FIR, which lays down punishment for bribing the voters.
The AAP has also brought to the EC’s notice the huge amount of money being spent by Mr Modi and the BJP. According to details collected by the AAP, the expenditure of Mr Modi’s nomination day alone, including his chopper ride within Varanasi city, was close to Rs six crore.
The AAP has provided details of the articles distributed, including their number and estimated cost.
The AAP demands that the EC should seek details of the total amount of money spent on Mr Modi’s campaign across the country.
In whose account will the money spent on Mr Modi’s rallies be added ? Has the BJP revealed how much money has been spent so far on the campaign ?
Advertisements worth how much have been given to newspapers and TV channels by the BJP so far ?
The ongoing election campaign has exposed the ineffectiveness of election laws and their implementation in checking the use of money power in the conduct of free and fair elections.
The AAP appeals to the EC to take effective steps to restore the faith of people in the electoral process to strengthen the democracy.
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