The Congress party on Friday sent a complaint to the election commission regarding a press conference held by BJP leader Arun Jaitley in which he campaigned for his party's Chief Minister candidate Kiran Bedi. The party said the press conference was a violation of the Representation of People's Act and the Model Code of Conduct.
“The holding of press conference is prohibited and the BJP has been conducting a campaign during the prohibited period for campaign. This is clear violation of R. P. Act and Model Code of Conduct. Therefore, immediate action should be taken against BJP for such violation,” a statement released by the Congress said.
Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, states that all public meetings should end 48 hours before polling starts. It also states that no person should display to the public any election matter by means of cinematograph, television or other similar apparatus. In this section, it says “election matter” means any matter intended or calculated to influence or affect the result of an election.
Mr Jaitley's press conference was broadcast on all major news channels. The Congress party, on the other hand, cancelled their routine Friday briefing in view of the provisions of the RP Act. Since last week the Election Commission has assigned an official to attend all election related press conferences in party offices.
Earlier in the day, the AAP also claimed that the BJP had violated the model code by placing full page ads in all major newspapers listing it's achievements and asking people to vote for it in the Delhi Assembly polls. However, a senior EC official clarified that the RP Act makes no reference to print media. “Section 126 is not applicable to the print media. This is what parliament has decided,” the official said.
