A day after receiving notice from the Election Commission of India (EC), Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi on Friday questioned the independence and impartiality of the election body, as she alleged that news of the notice reached the media through the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party before the notice reached her. She questioned whether the EC has become a subsidiary of the BJP.
The BJP, in turn, said she has “crossed all limits of political and administrative decorum by raising doubts on the independence and fairness of the EC”.
The EC had sent a notice to the AAP leader over claims that she was approached to join the BJP. The poll body asked her to back her statement with facts and respond to the notice by noon on April 8. It said the matter was being examined considering the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) and relevant electoral laws.
The EC action comes following a complaint by the BJP against Ms. Atishi’s “false statement” that the party had reached out through someone close to her and asked her to switch sides.
“...You are a Minister in the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi and leader of a national party. The electors tend to believe whatever is being said from public forum by their leaders and in that sense the statements made by them affect the campaign discourse,” the EC notice to Ms. Atishi said.
The election panel said it expects “factual foundation” to the statements made by the AAP leader. “...When the veracity of the statements made by you is contested then you must be able to back your statements by a factual basis,” the notice said.
Ms. Atishi had on April 2 claimed that the BJP approached her with a warning that she could either choose to join the party or be prepared for arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) within a month.
AAP’s national secretary Pankaj Gupta and senior AAP leader Atishi along with the party’s legal team on April 4 lodged a complaint with Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer regarding “objectionable” posters and hoardings with the photos of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal put up across Delhi by the BJP.
She said, “I want to ask the EC if they have become a subsidiary unit of the BJP. When the MCC is already enforced, and the ED arrests a sitting Chief Minister, a prominent Opposition figure and national convenor of one of the six national parties of the country, does the EC send a notice to the ED?”
Appealing to the EC, Ms. Atishi stated, “Today, I want to appeal to the EC that you have a huge responsibility given by the Constitution of this country. In this country’s Constitution, you are responsible for safeguarding democracy.”
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said instead of blaming the EC, the Minister should ask Mr. Kejriwal to follow the precedent of former Delhi Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana, who resigned from his post “on being named in a politically motivated case” unlike Mr. Kejriwal who has been arrested “in a huge liquor scam”.
