NAGPUR: Reacting to the Election Commission of India’s show cause notice to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his remarks on Prime Minister Modi in an election rally, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said that the whole remarks issue was hyped up in view of the upcoming elections.
Speaking to the media on Thursday in Nagpur, Kharge said, “The ECI can send the notice. There is no issue with it. This whole remark issue has been reiterated and hyped up in the face of the elections. We will respond to their notice.”
This comes after the Election Commission of India on Thursday issued show cause notice to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his ‘Jaibkatra’ (Pickpocket) and ‘Pannauti’ remarks on Prime Minister Modi in an election rally.
The BJP wrote a complaint to ECI on November 22 about Rahul Gandhi using derogatory remarks about PM Modi in his rallies.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi, while addressing a rally in Barmer, claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s presence in the Narendra Modi stadium was the reason behind India’s World Cup final loss.
“Our guys were playing well. They would have won the World Cup. But ‘Panauti’ made us lose. The TV guys won’t tell you this but people know,” Rahul said while campaigning at Rajasthan’s Barmer on Monday.
The BJP, in its complaint to the ECI, asked to take appropriate action against the Congress leader. “It will spoil the electoral environment, where abusing, using objectionable and offensive language to defame respectable individuals and spreading false news will become inevitable,” the BJP said.
When questioned about what the Congress National President thought about the claims of the Congress party in Rajasthan being involved in riots, corruption and the infamous red diary, Kharge said that it was all being said due to the elections.
“The answer to this has been given in Rajasthan. All this is being said due to the elections. What the BJP is trying to do in elections is not right. If the BJP wants to save the democracy, then do so by giving it a level playing field. Instead, the BJP is trying to scare people through agencies like the ED, CBI and CBC,” he said.
“In this way, the BJP is trying to scare people who support the Congress party. You cannot run a democracy by scaring people like this,” Kharge said.
On being asked what Kharge thinks about the BJP saying that Congress will never be able to form a government in Rajasthan, the Congress chief said,
“It is their hope that we will not form a government there, but we insist on it and will surely form it.” (ANI)