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Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s is likely to get a clean chit from Election Commission of India (ECI) in a complaint accusing him of violating the election model code of conduct (MCC) during campaigning in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, on April 9.
The complaint referred to PM Modi’s reference to the construction of the Ram Temple, development of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, and the union government’s action of bringing back copies of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book, from Afghanistan.
The EC is likely to say that these three instances do not constitute an appeal to vote in the name of religion, according to a report by The Indian Express.
The commission has decided that these do not violate the MCC, the report said. The poll panel is likely to dispose of the complaints by Supreme Court lawyer Anand S Jondale.
The complainant had alleged that PM Modi violated the MCC by seeking votes for “his party in the name of Hindu deities and Hindu places of worship as well as Sikh deities and Sikh places of worship” in his address at a public rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit on April 9.
This will be poll panel’s first disposal of complaints against the PM. The EC is also scrutinising a complaint against the PM for his remarks at a rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara on April 21, where he said that the Congress, if voted to power, could distribute the nation’s wealth among “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”.
The poll panel will share its decision with Jondale soon. A plea in this case is expected to be heard by the Delhi High Court this week. Before approaching the court, Jandole had first written to the Commission on April 10, a day after Modi’s rally in Pilibhit.
The Indian Express report quoted sources as saying that the poll body found no violation of the MCC and it concluded that the PM was listing the achievements of his government at the Pilibhit rally.
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