BHOPAL: Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha has filed a complaint with Election Commission against BJP state president VD Sharma accusing him of violating Model Code of Conduct norms on Monday.
In his complaint to EC, the Congress leader said that violating the MCC, Sharma addressed a press conference on the eve of the bypolls. Citing the rule, Tankha said the 48 hours before the polling is known as the ‘silent period’ mandated by section 126 of Representation of Peoples Act, 1951. The political parties are required to strictly observe the period of tranquility in ‘Letter of Sprit’ for 48 hours prior to the start of polling and any violation of the same amounts to commission of election offence, said the MP.
He added that the BJP state president held a press conference on the eve of the polls which is a violation of the Act. In the conference, which was aired live on various news channels and social media platform, Sharma had appealed to people to vote for BJP, said Tankha
EC had issued notice to Rahul on same grounds
Interestingly, during elections in Gujarat, a complaint was filed against the then AICC National president Rahul Gandhi on similar grounds. The congress president had addressed a press conference, and taking a note of it, the ECI had served notice on him. Then the law was not clear about the TV telecast, however, after the Gujarat issue the ECI had made provisions and incorporated the TV channels under the Act.
