The Election Commission on Tuesday 30 April gave clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his Wardha speech where he said the Congress chose to field Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad as it had more minority votes than the majority community. The Election Commission said PM Modi’s speech did not violate the poll conduct.
On Wednesday 1 April, it gave a second clean chit to Modi for his appeal to first-time voters by invoking the Balakot airstrikes in Latur, Maharashtra, on 9 April.
The Commission had earlier received multiple complaints seeking action against Modi for allegedly violating the code. While the Opposition strongly condemned EC’s move and called MCC the Modi Code of Conduct, Twitterati also began questioning the Election Commission.
‘EC Being Bizarre’
Activist Nandini Sundar said Opposition parties should keep a close watch on the EVMs. “This EC will help BJP steal the elections. If they claim Modi was not asking for votes in the name of Balakot, they can do anything.”
Journalist Swati Chaturvedi said the “sanctity of the 2019 elections is in question.”
Another Twitter user said that the same Election Commission says EVMs are tamper-proof when 99.9 percent malfunctioning EVMs register votes only for a particular political party.
Journalist Meghnad said he was confused. “So when the PM gave that 'first time voters' speech, he was asking people to vote for the actual martyred soldiers? Or was he asking people to vote for the Congress? Oh wait... votes for Yeti ji,” he said.
Overruled Its Officers
The fact that that the Commission went against the opinion of the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and the Osmanabad District Electoral Officer (DEO) the second time, also surprised Twitterati. Both officers had found Modi’s appeal to be “inconsistent” with EC’s instructions prohibiting the use of armed forces for political gains.
According to an EC official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the comments of the DEO and the CEO were not considered since their opinion was based on “just five lines of the speech,” reported The Indian Express.
One Twitter user said this is ‘astonishing’. “How many lines are needed for violation ? Do bureaucrats lose it all on retirement?” he asked.
Rana Ayyub said that “Modiji has a way with clean chits.”
‘Modi Tamed Election Commission’
Journalist Nikhil Wagle also said Election Commission should be renamed ‘Election Commission Of Modi’.
Another journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani said the highest achievement of Modi government in the last five years has been to tame the Election Commission. “This new compromised election commission has certainly shaken people’s faith and the core of Indian democracy,” she said.
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