EC notices to Yogi Adityanath, Sanjay Singh on remarks over Shaheen Bagh

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Thursday issued a notice to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath for his February 1 poll speech in northeast Delhi’s Karawal Nagar, in which he alleged that Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was feeding “biryani” to Shaheen Bagh protesters.
The poll body also served a notice to Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh over his remarks that BJP was out to create big trouble in the Shaheen Bagh-Jamia area.
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While Adityanath has been directed to respond to the notice by 5pm on Friday, Singh’s deadline ends at 12 noon.
Interestingly, campaigning for the Delhi polls has ended. So, even though the EC can condemn or censure Adityanath or Singh for their utterances, no further action can be taken as the silence period has kicked in ahead of polling on Saturday.
In its notice to the UP chief minister, the poll panel said his statements linking Kejriwal to Shaheen Bagh protests and a Pakistani minister were prima facie violation of the model code provision that requires parties to avoid criticising rival parties or their workers based on unverified allegations or distortion.
The EC quoted Adityanath as having said in a speech on February 1, “Terrorists are being fed biryani. This was the hobby of Congress earlier and now Kejriwal, and not BJP, likes to do the same. A Pakistani minister has made an appeal favouring Kejriwal. He has no faith in Delhi residents and is instead influencing Pakistani masters to issue statements in his favour.”
As per the model code of conduct, criticism of parties, when made, must be restricted to their policies and programmes, past record and work. The notice to Singh for his remarks against BJP invoked the same provision of the model code of conduct. Singh had, in a campaign speech, alleged that BJP was out to create big trouble in Delhi.
The EC said Singh’s statement was distorted and unverified, making it a violation of the model code, and “could create confusion and panic among general public and electors”.