Team News Riveting
New Delhi, October 25
The Congress on Wednesday lodged complaints against Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma with the Election Commission of India for their speeches delivered in Chhattisgarh.
The party alleged that their remarks during the Chhattisgarh assembly poll campaign violated the model code of conduct. A delegation of Congress leaders met the chief election commissioner and other election commissioners on Wednesday. They handed over eight different memorandums of poll code violations in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.
The delegation comprised AICC general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh, party leader Salman Khurshid, AICC state in-charge for Telangana Manikrao Thakre, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief Revanth Reddy, former TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy and CLP leader (Telangana assembly) Bhatti Vikramarka.
In its complaint against Shah, the Congress leaders told the poll panel that the home minister claimed in a speech in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon on October 16 that “…Bhupesh Baghel’s government, for appeasement politics and vote bank politics, lynched Chhattisgarh’s son Bhuneshwar Sahoo and got him killed…” Shah further said that the BJP had pledged to bring Sahoo’s killers to justice and “in his honour, we are fielding his father Ishwar Sahoo as a candidate in the elections”, the complaint stated.
The Congress party alleged that these statements and claims are in blatant violation of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The party also lodged complaint against Assam Chief Minister Sarma in connection with his speech delivered in Chhattisgarh’s Kawardha on October 18 while campaigning against Congress candidate Mohammed Akbar. In his speech, the Congress alleged, Sarma said, “If one Akbar comes to some place, he calls 100 Akbars. So, send him off as soon as possible, otherwise the land of Mata Kaushalya will get defiled.”
The complaint stated that the Assam Chief Minister subsequently levelled allegations against Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, saying, “Today, the tribals of Chhattisgarh, who are dear to us, are being encouraged to convert their religion on a daily basis. And when someone raises their voice against it, Bhupesh Baghel ji says ‘we are secular’. Is beating up Hindus your secularism? This country is a country of Hindus and will belong to Hindus. Do not teach us secularism, we do not need to learn secularism from you.”
