The Election Commission of India (EC) on Friday revoked the 'star-campaigner' status of Congress leader and ex-Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath for repeated violations of the Model Code of Conduct.
Meanwhile, Congress has decided to move court against the Election Commission's revocation of party leader Kamal Nath's star campaigner status, said Narendra Saluja, the media coordinator for the Madhya Pradesh unit of Congress.
Currently, the campaigning for the by-election to the state assembly is underway in Madhya Pradesh.
In its order, the Election Commission stated that if from now onwards, Kamal Nath appears in any by-election campaigning, "the entire expenditure related to travel, stay, visit, etc." will be borne by the candidate in whose constituency the campaign is being undertaken.
The decision was taken in light of the fact that the former MP chief minister "is repeatedly violating the provision of Model Code of Conduct" and was also found "breaching the ethical and dignified behaviour".
The EC order comes right after Kamal Nath's controversial remark calling Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan "mafia", "nautanki", and "milawat-khor".
He had also faced the heat earlier for having used the word "item" for a woman candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — Imarti Devi.
The EC noted in its order that the ex-MP chief minister was notified numerous times over his remarks, which violate provisions that protect "all aspects of private life, not connected with the public activities of the leaders or workers of the parties" from being criticised.
In light of these developments, therefore, the EC revoked "the status of leader of political party (Star Campaigner)" of Kamal Nath.
Meanwhile, the dirty campaigning ahead of the MP bypolls isn't just limited to one party. The Election Commission on Friday also said the "chunnu-munnu" remarks made by BJP's Kailash Vijayvargiya against Congress' Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath were in violation of the poll code provisions and advised the senior BJP leader not to use "any such word" in his public utterances during the model code period.
Twenty-eight assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh are going to bypolls on November 3.
