Demanding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi be barred from campaigning for 96 hours and an FIR be lodged against him for his alleged hate speeches, several civil society groups undertook a nationwide joint campaign on May 11, including in Karnataka, with the slogan “Grow a Spine or Resign.”
The activists in Bengaluru submitted a memorandum to the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for Karnataka holding the ECI accountable for its “inaction” against violations of the MCC and laws during the Lok Sabha elections.
Lok Sabha elections 2024 updates, May 11
“In Karnataka, we had complained to the CEO about BJP’s animated video clip on Muslim reservation and had demanded that it should be taken down. Although an FIR was filed, it was taken down only after the elections in Karnataka. During the Lok Sabha poll campaign there were several hate speeches by BJP members which should have been taken cognizance of by the EC. We had demanded that the BJP Karnataka handle should be stopped from posting on social media. But, none of our demands were looked into,” said Vinay Sreenivasa, member of Bahutva Karnataka that was part of the joint campaign.
He alleged the ECI has been acting only against MCC violations by opposition parties and letting the ruling party off the hook. “Randeep Surjewala of the Congress and K. Chandrashekhar Rao of the BRS have been banned from campaigning for 48 hours over MCC violations. But more serious violations by the BJP have been ignored. We demand that Mr Modi be barred from campaigning for 96 hours,” he asserted.
Joint complaint
A joint complaint was submitted through the offices of the Chief Electoral Officers in Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Hyderabad among others and a letter was also submitted to the office of the Chief Election Commissioner in Delhi. This collective of organisations and concerned citizens also undertook a postcard campaign in which hundreds of postcards were sent to ECI, Delhi, from various cities containing the image of a spine — thereby demanding the Election Commission to ‘Grow A Spine or Resign’.
The complaint pointed out that voter turnout data shared only in percentages and not in numbers by the ECI, raised concerns about “manipulation” of vote count. “In 2019, reports indicated discrepancies between votes polled and votes counted in the Lok Sabha elections in 373 constituencies, including a surplus of more than 18,000 in Kancheepuram and 14,512 in Sriperumbudur. So far the ECI has not explained the discrepancy. This time around, the ECI has refused to share the data about votes polled, instead sharing only the percentage of votes polled. This is leading to fears of vote counts being manipulated,” the letter stated.
Hate speeches
“The Prime Minister has made several speeches which pit communities against one another and promote hatred between communities on religious lines. This amounts to a violation of the MCC, amounts to a corrupt practice under the Representation of People’s Act and is a violation of the ECIs advisory to political parties. So far Mr. Modi, who is a star campaigner has not even been served a notice. Similarly, BJP has released several videos which are again spreading hatred,” the letter to ECI said.
It added that “no action had been taken against the BJP for distorting points from opposition parties’ manifestos as well.” BJP leaders have done this in speeches, BJP has issued ads which distorted information but faced no punitive action, it said. Along with a cluth of organisations, the letter was signed by 222 people from various walks of life, including lawyers, activists, filmmakers, academics and concerned citizens.
