By IANS
New Delhi : The Election Commission Saturday pulled up Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary Digvijay Singh as well as Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for violating the election code, asking the latter two to be “more cautious in future”.
The poll panel orders, signed by secretary Lalit Mohan, were almost identical.
In case of Modi, it read: “…. Utterances in your speech under reference had the effect of aggravating the existing differences to create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities and amounted to an appeal to caste or communal feelings.”
It ends with the Election Commission expressing its displeasure at the violation of the model code of conduct and advised him to “be more cautious in future”.
Its order against Digvijay Singh also ends with the above statement, while holding him guilty of violating the model code of conduct.
However, the order against Sonia Gandhi was slightly different
It pulled up the Congress president for making personal comments against Modi (without naming him). “Some of the impugned utterances under reference amount to an attack on the personal character or conduct of the political/administrative functionaries running the present government of Gujarat,” it said.
The order ends with, “The commission conveys its displeasure and expects that in future the salutary provisions of the model code of conduct will be adhered to and observed in its letter and spirit.”
Gandhi was asked by the poll panel to explain her “merchants of death” remark made during the Gujarat poll campaign after Narendra Modi demanded action against her.
Digvijay Singh was also issued a notice for saying Gujarat was witnessing “Hindu terrorism”, while Modi was issued notice for his speech allegedly justifying the extra-judicial killing of a Muslim man in 2005.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) expressed “surprise” at the last paragraph of the Election Commission order on Sonia Gandhi.
“While the orders against Digvijay Singh and Modi state that they be more cautious in future, this has not been stated in the order against Sonia Gandhi. I am surprised at this,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar told IANS.