Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PTI file
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a spiritual journey today after holding his final rally in the run-up to India’s 2024 Lok Sabha elections before the final phase of voting begins on June 1.
Modi will address a rally in Punjab’s Hoshirapur on Thursday before heading to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, where he will meditate at the Vivekananda Rock Memorial from May 30 to June 1 as the culmination of the BJP’s election campaign.
However, PM Modi’s plan has angered the opposition parties, who do not want the PM’s meditation to be televised as it violates the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Modi also visited Kedarnath in Uttarakhand for a similar activity just before the results were announced, where he undertook a 15-hour solitary meditation.
TMC files complaint with EC
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said her party, the Trinamool Congress, would lodge a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) if Prime Minister Modi meditates in Kanyakumari.
“We will file a complaint. He can meditate but we cannot broadcast it on television,” Mamata said, adding that broadcasting it on television would be an MCC violation.
“Do you have to have a camera to meditate?” the Prime Minister asked, alleging that the practice is a way for Modi to campaign during the 48-hour silent period before the final stretch of elections.
Congress is against it
Similarly, the Indian National Congress on Wednesday urged the Election Commission to ensure that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 48-hour meditation trip in Kanyakumari from May 30 is not broadcast in the media as it violates the Model Code of Conduct, alleging that it is an attempt to “circumvent” the silence period restrictions.
A delegation led by Indian National Congress Party leaders Randeep Surjewala, Abhishek Singhvi and Syed Nasir Hussain met the Election Commission and submitted a memorandum in this regard along with 27 other complaints alleging violations of the Model Code by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the past few days.
Other opposition parties follow suit
Other opposition parties, including the DMK and the Samajwadi Party in Tamil Nadu, have also joined the TMC and the Indian National Congress in opposing the televising of PM Modi’s Kanyakumari meditation programme.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) condemned the practice, saying, “This is a drama being played out for political gains.” M. Joseph Raj, leader of the DMK’s Kanyakumari South district advocacy wing, filed a petition asking the city election officer to deny permission for the event.
Meanwhile, SP Dimple Yadav said people do not need to travel to Kanyakumari to meditate and can also do it at home.
What does the MCC say?
The ECI’s model code of conduct states, “No public meeting can be held after 10 pm and before 6 am. Further, candidates cannot hold any public meeting or procession within 48 hours of the close of polling.”
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