The Election Commission has reprimanded Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for terming the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi as a Narahantaka (mass murderer) and asked the Chief Minister to be "extremely careful" in future.
Mr. Siddaramaiah, while campaigning in Mysore on March 23, had termed Mr. Modi as a " Narahantaka " (mass murderer). "...actually he is not Narendra Modi, he is a Narahantaka ," he had said, according to the EC.
Rejecting the explanation offered by the Karnataka Chief Minister, the EC in its order held that his comment prima facie violated provisions of Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
The MCC stipulates that no party or candidate shall indulge in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes, communities, religion or linguistic grounds.
"Your explanation relating to the use of the word against the leader of a major political party has not been accepted, as that explanation has been specifically used to criticize Narendra Modi personally and not by way of criticizing his Government policies. Now, therefore, the Commission has decided to admonish you for the derogatory word used by you against Sh. Narendra Modi and has further advised you to be extremely careful in future," the EC order said.
The MCC envisages that criticism of other political parties should be confined to their policies and programmes, past record and work and parties and candidates should refrain from criticism of their private life not connected with the public activity.
However, a minor consolation for the Karnataka Chief Minister is that the EC accepted his explanation on the promise made to adopt a village, an announcement considered as a violation of model code.
