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New Delhi: The Election Commission on Friday deemed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s televised address to the nation on Wednesday to announce the success of the ASAT test did not violate the model code of conduct (MCC). A committee set up by the EC ruled that Modi’s address did not attract a provision in the MCC that deals with misuse of official mass media.
On Wednesday, Modi announced that India completed its first successful anti-satellite missile test. The announcement was made via a live televised address. Members of the opposition accused Modi of misusing government machinery to gain an advantage before the polls.
What probably helped Modi and his government escape violating the MCC was the technicality that the address was streamed using YouTube and not Doordarshan or All India Radio.
Air India too has been flirting with the MCC as it has been displaying pictures of Narendra Modi on its boarding passes. After it was first reported on Monday, the Election Commission issued a show cause notice to the civil aviation ministry noting that the situation involved a prima facie violation of the code.
However, on Friday, Air India was again found to be using pictures of Modi and Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani on its boarding passes.
Also Read: Do the Producers of the Modi Biopic Really Have No Links to BJP?
The national carrier is not alone. The Indian Railways too has been displaying pictures of Modi on its tickets. It has also been pulled up by the EC.
The EC’s reprimands have failed to make an impact. On Friday, the railways was found to be providing tea in plastic cups which had the slogan “main bhi chowkidar” – one of the battle cries of the BJP for the elections – printed on them.
Hardik Patel cannot contest elections
Meanwhile, in Modi’s home state, Congress youth leader Hardik Patel, who posed a formidable challenge to the BJP during the Gujarat assembly elections in 2017, will not be contesting the Lok Sabha elections. The Gujarat high court on Friday dismissed a plea that sought a stay on his conviction in a 2015 case of rioting. Under the law, a convicted individual cannot contest elections unless her conviction is stayed.
Patel, who only turned 25 (the minimum age to contest an election in India) last year, is the leader of the Patidar agitation in Gujarat that has been demanding reservation for in education and jobs. He recently joined the Congress and was hoping to contest from Jamnagar.
Modi’s rallies in three states
On the campaign trail, Modi addressed rallies in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. He once again used the Balakot airstrike to garner support. “It is a month now, and Pakistan is still busy counting the bodies of terrorists killed, and these people (the opposition) here only keep asking for proof,” he said in Koraput.
Modi also took credit for the ASAT test conducted by the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO). “India has now become a space power and that is something that the world has now noticed. India is now even doing chowkidari in space,” he said.
Also Read: Former NSA Shivshankar Menon Says DRDO Head Never Sought Permission for ASAT Test
In Odisha, Modi accused the Naveen Patnaik government of not implementing the Centre’s flagship health insurance scheme – Ayushman Bharat. “This government in Odisha is just not willing to take part in it… Either they don’t care for the poor or they have their own reasons and arithmetic. Either way, it shows their lack of empathy for the people of Odisha,” he said.
Priyanka Gandhi takes on Modi
Priyanka Gandhi campaigned in Ayodhya in eastern UP, the region that she has been made in charge of as general secretary of the Congress. She responded to Modi’s attacks on the Congress, “Pakistan mein biryani khane ke liye toh woh gaye thhe (it was he who went to Pakistan to eat their biryani),” she said in an apparent reference to Modi’s unplanned pit stop to meet the then prime minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif in 2015.
Priyanka also attacked the BJP for not having fulfilled the promises it made before coming to power in 2014 and said that the Congress party, on the other hand, had fulfilled its loan waiver promise in Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Rajasthan within ten days of coming to power.
Rahul Gandhi hit the campaign trail in Haryana as part of the party’s ‘parivartan yatra’. At a rally in Jagadhari he spoke about the minimum income guarantee scheme. “I listened to his (Modi’s) speech in which he mentioned Rs 15 lakh a few times. I thought this was a good idea, that the money should be transferred into the accounts of the poor. PM Modi had lied to you, but I don’t lie.”
On Friday, Rahul also said that if the Congress is voted to power, it would scrap the NITI Aayog and bring back the Planning commission. “If voted to power, we will scrap the NITI Aayog. We will replace it with a lean Planning Commission whose members will be renowned economists and experts with less than 100 staff,” he said.