The BJP on Monday wrote to the Election Commission asking the poll body to take immediate action against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his “dangerous” speech during campaigning for the upcoming Maharashtra elections. The BJP, in its letter, called for Rahul to be “reprimanded, censured, and restrained” from “spreading falsehoods”.
The ruling party accused the Congress MP of committing a “gross violation” of the Model Code of Conduct after Rahul Gandhi made a controversial statement in Mumbai last week. In its formal complaint, the BJP stated that Rahul Gandhi “falsely accused other states of stealing and snatching alleged opportunities from the State of Maharashtra.”
“We told them Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi spoke lies in Maharashtra… he said BJP wants to crush the Constitution,” Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, who led the BJP’s delegation to meet with top election officials, said.
The BJP highlighted a section of Rahul’s speech, saying he made “totally unverified claims… that Apple’s iPhones and Boeing’s airplanes are being manufactured in other states at the expense of Maharashtra”. Despite being served a notice, the party alleged that Rahul continued to spread these false accusations.
“… in fact, the State of Maharashtra has topped in FDI (foreign direct investment) across India by receiving a total of Rs 70,795 crore from April to June 2024-25,” the BJP said in its complaint. The party stated that Rahul’s statements are “immensely dangerous” as they are “inciting youth of Maharashtra.”
The BJP also accused Rahul Gandhi of using his speech to create division. “As only expected, and in line with his typical pattern of campaigning and general conduct, Rahul Gandhi’s speech was full of falsehood and lies, intending to create disaffection, enmity, and ill-will between states of the Union of India… Rahul Gandhi wished to create a divide between the people of Maharashtra and other states,” the BJP stated.
‘False, Unverified, Baseless’
The BJP also criticised Rahul for continuously making “false, unverified, and baseless allegations” against the party, accusing him of doing so to gain advantage in Maharashtra elections. “He has been consistently making false, unverified, and baseless allegations against the BJP… solely to achieve electoral gains in the election in Maharashtra,” the complaint read.
Congress Complaint To EC
This comes just a day after the Congress lodged a formal complaint with the Election Commission over a BJP advertisement campaign in Jharkhand. The campaign featured actors resembling prominent leaders from the JMM, Congress, and RJD. In the petition to the EC, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh stated that the advertisement made “several blatantly false allegations” against the leaders of the three parties, aiming to depict them as “anti-tribal”.
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