MCC violations: EC drags it feet in some cases, acts cautiously | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Amid the Election Commission’s focus to hold political leaders responsible and censuring them for violation of model code of conduct (MCC), details available on its website show that in two cases involving high-profile leaders, the poll panel acted or passed orders the same day, although it had received complaints on different dates.
The first case pertains to complaints against Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi and PM Narendra Modi.Details from the documents available on EC’s website show that on April 19, BJP had filed a complaint against Rahul and Kharge, alleging “gross violation” of electoral laws, MCC and criminal laws. It cited speeches by these two leaders to argue its case.
A week later, Congress filed a complaint against Modi alleging violation of MCC, electoral and criminal laws. It gave details of PM’s poll speeches in the complaint. On April 21 and 23, CPI and CPI(ML) filed complaints against Modi with the poll body.
On April 25, the poll panel simultaneously sent notices to both Congress president Kharge and BJP chief J P Nadda, asking them to respond by April 29. Both parties have submitted their response, and EC is yet to take any decision even as only two phases of Lok Sabha elections will remain after Monday’s polling.
The second case involves Andhra Pradesh CM and YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu.
EC records show that Reddy filed a complaint against Naidu with the Andhra Pradesh chief election officer (CEO) on April 1 mentioning objectionable portions of his speeches and the CEO issued a show cause notice to the TDP leader on April 3. Naidu replied to the notice and did not deny the words and statements made against Reddy. Even after the notice, the CEO received complaints of the leader violating the MCC.
In the case of the YSR Congress chief, TDP filed a complaint against him on April 5 alleging he used false statements against Naidu and violated the MCC. On April 7, the CEO issued a showcause notice to Reddy. The CM replied on April 9 and didn’t deny using the words and statements against his political rival. As per the EC document, the CEO received two more complaints against Reddy for violating MCC even after getting the notice.
Finally, the CEO sent reports against both the leaders on April 22 and the EC on May 6 “censured” them with the direction to “remain careful” in their public utterances in future.
EC sources said the poll body takes into consideration several factors before passing an order or initiating action. “It observes how leaders behave after showcause notices are served. Second, if it initiates action soon after getting a complaint against an opposition leader, you can imagine the allegations that will be levelled. Another major factor is to ensure that the poll process is smooth,” said a source.