May 30, 2024
New Delhi The Indian National Congress on Wednesday filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) against Prime Minister Narendra Modi following media reports that he would be taking a three-day meditation leave from May 30 in Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.
The party said the reported planned trip was a “violation” of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
Notably, the seventh and final phase of campaigning for the 2024 Indian Lok Sabha elections is scheduled to conclude on Thursday evening, May 30.
A delegation of Indian National Congress Party leaders, comprising Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Nasir Hussain, met the ECI and apprised them on the matter.
“On May 28, various media outlets reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake 48 hours of meditation starting May 30 at the Dhyan Mandapam in Kanyakumari. The trip will be widely televised hence there will be a 48-hour silence period in Varanasi, the constituency for which Prime Minister Modi is running,” the Congress party said in a memorandum.
“Through his meditation tour, Narendra Modi is trying to circumvent the 48-hour silence period and unfairly exploit the ethno-cultural significance of the selected places to intensify his election campaign and maximize his vote share, in violation of the Representation of People Act, Model Code of Conduct and other directives on dos and don’ts during election period which need to be adhered to by political parties and candidates,” the party said.
“We have said in our complaint that no leader can campaign directly or indirectly during the silence period,” Singhvi said while briefing reporters outside the Election Commission office about the same.
“We have also filed a complaint about vulgar and objectionable advertisements being circulated from official BJP social media accounts,” he said.
The Congress has filed a total of 28 complaints with the ECI on various issues, including MCC violations.
Meanwhile, Indian National Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh wrote in an X post, “We hope that the ECI will take immediate action to ensure that the live broadcast of Sva Goshit Bhagwan meditation at Vivekananda Memorial does not take place as this is a blatant and brazen violation of the Model Code of Conduct.”
