ECI Issues Notice on Congress’s Priyank Kharge and BJP’s Yatnal for ‘Nalayak’ and ‘Vishkanya’ Comments

On May 2, the Election Commission referred to a “plummeting” level of discourse. But many instances of speech and conduct remain uncommented upon by the body responsible for the conduct of polls.

Bengaluru: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued a notice to Congress leader Priyank Kharge for describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as nalayak or incompetent, during an election speech in Karnataka. Mallikarjun Kharge’s son has been asked to submit his response by Thursday, May 4, after which the commission is expected to take action in the matter.

The notice comes after the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) moved to the ECI to seek action against Priyank Kharge’s statement on Modi. The EC has also issued a notice to Basanagouda R. Patil (Yatnal), the BJP’s star campaigner and candidate from the 30-Bijapur City constituency, for violating the Model Code of Conduct while campaigning for the upcoming elections in the state. He referred to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi as vishkanya (female assassin).

On May 2, the ECI, without referring to any incident in particular, issued a release decrying the “plummeting” levels of discourse during the campaign for the Karnataka assembly elections.

Earlier, BJP leader and Union home minister Amit Shah had been charged by the opposition Congress in a complaint of spreading enmity and discord when he was reported as saying that the state would see riots if the Congress won the elections. Nothing has been heard of that complaint so far.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s reference, invoking a ‘poisonous snake’ while referring to Modi, which he subsequently backtracked from, also drew angry responses from the BJP.

The Congress party, as reported earlier in The Wire, has demanded an apology from PM Modi for “insulting” crores of Hanuman bhakts by equating the Bajrang Dal with Lord Hanuman. This was in response to the BJP trying to twist the Congress’s manifesto promising to take strict against certain groups – including the Bajrang Dal – as opposition to Lord Hanuman.

On Wednesday, Modi in Mulki, Ankola and Bailahongal, where he addressed the public gatherings, raked up the issue again and raised slogans of “Jai Bajrang Bali”, getting a response from crowds at his rally.

The prime minister, who has claimed that the Congress was hurling abuses at him, said, “What will you (people) do this time? Will you punish them? Will you punish the abusers?… When you press the button in the polling booth, punish by saying ‘Jai Bajrang Bali’.”

His statement was perceived by Congress leaders as seeking votes in the name of religion, which would be in violation of the Model Code of Conduct. Some leaders also accused the prime minister of deliberately conflating the Bajrang Dal – a right-wing group which has come under the scanner for involvement in violent activities – with Lord Hanuman to polarise voters.

Virtually all opinion polls, and at least three large surveys by C-Voter, CSDS-Lokniti and Eedina, show the Congress pulling ahead and the BJP on the back foot and under pressure on issues of corruption in particular. The “40% corruption” charge has gathered momentum, there is every indication that the BJP and affiliates will try and focus on Hindutva issues as the campaign winds down. Karnataka will vote on May 10, while counting will be done on May 13.

B.S. Arun is a senior journalist based in Bengaluru.

With inputs from Amrit B.L.S.