A day after lodging a complaint against Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the Election Commission of India, TM Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale came down heavily on the poll body on Tuesday, accusing it of turning a blind eye to code violations during PM Modi's political rally.
In a fresh allegation, Saket accused the Election Commission of brazenly allowing "PM Modi to violate rules" during his election rally in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore, where he alleged that 50 government school children were brought to attend.
Taking to X, Saket wrote, "It’s shocking how the EC is brazenly letting Modi violate rules. EC rules strictly prohibit the use of children for election campaigning. And yet, at PM Modi’s rally in Coimbatore yesterday, 50 govt school children were brought to attend. Why no action ECI?"
Along with the tweet, he shared a picture showing school children standing in uniform allegedly outside the rally venue.
PM violated code of conduct by using Air Force Helicopter for political rally: Gokhale
Yesterday, Gokhale filed a complaint against PM Modi with the ECI, alleging that the PM violated the code of conduct by purportedly using an Air Force helicopter to attend a political rally in Palnadu district of Andhra Pradesh.
According to Saket's post, EC rules prohibit the use of state machinery for political campaigning. He also pointed out in the tweet that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was disqualified in 1975 specifically for this reason.
Seeking clarification from the Election body, Gokhale wrote, "If BJP paid for renting the IAF chopper, then EC should let us all know along with the grounds for why an IAF chopper was essential (CMs & other Z+ protectees use normal VVIP choppers which have all required security features)".
After Gokhale's complaint to ECI, BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya hit back at TMC MP, claiming EC rules allow the Prime Minister in office to use official aircraft/chopper for the election process.
Hitting out at Gokhale, the BJP leader said the TMC MP stalks the PM and writes random letters without knowing anything.
Following Malviya's tweet, Gokhale replied saying, "BJP’s bot coolie can’t tell the difference between 'during the election process' (which the notification says) & 'for the election process' (which his tweet says). PM is exempt for official use. Not for election campaigns. Stick to edited videos. This is way above your pay grade."
Last month, Election Commission issued directives to political parties, stating not to engage children in any form of election campaign, including rallies, slogan shouting, distribution of posters or pamphlets, or any other election-related activity. Political leaders and candidates should not use children for campaign activities in any manner, including holding a child in their arms, carrying a child in a vehicle, or in rallies, read the directive.
During the announcement of poll dates on Saturday, the Chief Election Commissioner reiterated that if any political party or leader is found using children for political rallies, they will be dealt with strictly.
