BJP Seeks EC Censure For Rahul Gandhi’s ‘False Statements’ During Maharashtra Election Drive

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday asked the Election Commission of India to take severe action against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for spewing falsehood during his Maharashtra election campaign, the party alleged that he had breached the Model Code of Conduct.

BJP has contended that Rahul Gandhi’s speech delivered last week in Mumbai made frivolous charges that other states were snatching away opportunities from the people of Maharashtra. The party claimed false and unchecked statements by Gandhi called for “reprimand, censure, and restraint in such pronouncements”.

BJP filed a complaint with the Election Commission on Monday. The BJP quoted a statement in which Gandhi is said to have stated that iPhones by Apple and airplanes by Boeing are made in other states at the expense of Maharashtra’s progress.

Attacking the statement made by Gandhi, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, leading the BJP delegation to meet with the election officials, said that the complaints made by the Congress leader were ‘unverified’ and damaging to the state of Maharashtra.

As Meghwal has opined, it is through such attacks on the performance of the state that Gandhi’s claims are directed at impugning key indicators in the form of the success to being a leader in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The FDI for Maharashtra saw €70,795 crores between April and June 2024, thus making it the receiving end at the national level in India.

BJP Accuses Gandhi Of Creating Disaffection Between States

More importantly, the BJP complained that Gandhi’s statements were inciting the youth in Maharashtra, thus “immensely dangerous,” in the words of the BJP. The ruling party furthered its allegations with the charge that the comments made by Gandhi are meant to sow “malice and disunity between Maharashtra and other states in India and make it an environment of ‘enmity and ill-will.”.

The party said, “Rahul Gandhi‘s speech was full of falsehoods, lies, and baseless accusations aimed at discrediting the BJP and the state of Maharashtra.” It lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against the Congress leader accusing him of acting consistently in making false and baseless allegations against the party with an intent to gain electoral advantage in the ongoing Maharashtra elections.

BJP Reminds EC Of Advisory On Election Campaign Decorum

The BJP further cited an advisory issued by the Election Commission in this year, which sounded a word of warning that election campaigns should be kept restrained and decent. It demanded that the political leadership must not get themselves involved in a debate of issues and instead had to work towards not committing falsehood which would mislead voters. The party alleged that the Congress has still been violating those guidelines and added that its violations are uncontrolled.

Questioning the credibility of the poll process, the BJP raised more serious allegations and called for more stringent steps from the Election Commission on repeated violations. The BJP demanded the poll panel instruct the police file a case against Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge for alleged misbehavior.

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