The Election Commission (EC) on Thursday issued a notice to Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president Arjun Modhvadia, seeking his comments by 5 p.m on Saturday on the reported speech he made at Vadodara on November 2 at a public meeting attacking the personal and private life of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The Commission comprising chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath and Election Commissioners H.S. Brahma and S.N.A. Zaidi decided to issue the notice after going through the CD of his speech and reports of the State chief Electoral Officer and district Election Officer.
They found that Mr. Modhwadia had violated the provisions of the model code of conduct.
The relevant section reads: “Criticism of other political parties shall be confined to their policies and programme, past record and work. Parties and candidates shall refrain from criticism of all aspects of private life, not connected with the public activities of the leaders or workers of other parties. Criticism of other parties or their workers based on unverified allegations or distortion shall be avoided.”
Bharatiya Janata Party MP and State unit’s general secretary Balkrishna Shukla had filed the complaint against Mr. Modhvadia.
