Congress responds to EC: BJP complaint bid to limit sphere of criticising PM

In his letter, Kharge is learnt to have pointed out that the BJP complaint was based on false contexts, presumptions and insinuations and was nothing but an attempt to derail the poll campaign of the Congress.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with party leader Rahul Gandhi at a public meeting. (PTI Photo/File)

Ten days after the Election Commission issued a notice to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on alleged breaches by him and senior party leader Rahul Gandhi, Kharge has replied saying the BJP complaint on the basis on which the notice was issued was “misconceived” and “non-maintainable”.

He is also learnt to have pointed out that the EC has often taken a view that no violation of poll laws occurred with regard to complaints against BJP leaders for making “divisive” and “communal” speeches.

In his letter, Kharge is learnt to have pointed out that the BJP complaint was based on false contexts, presumptions and insinuations and was nothing but an attempt to derail the poll campaign of the Congress and attempt to limit and define the sphere within which the Prime Minister can be criticised.

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Both Kharge and Rahul, the BJP said, had claimed the BJP would change the Constitution, which the party denied ever saying.

Kharge is learnt to have said that both his and Rahul’s statements were “well-justified and premised” and based on statements made by various BJP leaders in the past which are in the public domain. Given that context, Rahul’s remarks, he said, should be considered as “fair political commentary”. Such speeches and commentary, he said, was protected under the fundamental right to free speech and the BJP complaint, which he claimed was a “skewed interpretation” of Rahul’s remarks, was an attempt to “silence and stifle that right”.

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Kharge is also learnt to have referred to Modi’s remarks at a rally in Rajasthan in which he claimed that Congress, if voted to power, could distribute the nation’s wealth among “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”. The EC had issued a notice to BJP president J P Nadda over Modi’s remarks based on a Congress complaint.

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Kharge is learnt to have argued that the PM has not backtracked from making similar “provocative and divisive” statements. Kharge is learnt to have referred to statements by top BJP leaders that he argued were against Congress and aimed at spreading “false rhetoric” against a certain religious community.

Given that such speeches by BJP leaders were found non-violative of the poll code, Kharge is learnt to have said that his and Rahul’s remarks were not even in the same “vicinity vis-a- vis tenor, intention, language” and cannot be considered to be violative of electoral laws.