CPI MP Writes to Chief Election Commissioner on MCC Violations in Modi's Speech |
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New Delhi: Communist Party of India Rajya Sabha MP Sandosh Kumar P. has written to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar urging action over the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s April 18 ‘address to the nation’ violated the Model Code of Conduct in poll-bound states.
He wrote that the speech was political, and had partisan claims aimed at influencing voters. Its broadcast on state-run platforms like Doordarshan and Sansad TV, he said, misused public resources and undermined a level playing field. Kumar urged the Election Commission to investigate, act promptly, and ensure accountability to maintain public trust and the integrity of the electoral process.
As The Wire has reported, a day after his government’s contentious bid to remove the freeze on delimitation and expand the strength of the Lok Sabha to “operationalise” women’s reservation failed to pass muster in the House, Modi launched an extraordinary broadside against the opposition, likening its position in parliament yesterday to “female foeticide”.
In his speech, he repeatedly invoked the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party and most of all, the Congress. The first two parties are in power in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, where elections are due just later this month and where Modi’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, also hopes to wrest power. The Model Code of Conduct, which stipulates against the use of official mass media for the “partisan coverage of political news” is in place in both states.
Sandosh writes that any “failure to take cognisance of such an instance risks signalling institutional complicity and eroding public confidence in the impartiality of the Election Commission.”
His full letter is below.
To, Shri Gyanesh Kumar, The Chief Election Commissioner, Election Commission of India, New Delhi
Sub: Violation of Model Code of Conduct through PM’s address
Respected Shri Gyanesh Kumar ji,
I write to draw your urgent attention to a serious violation of the Model Code of Conduct currently in force in five states. The recent address to the nation by the Prime Minister and BJP leader Shri Narendra Modi was, by all objective assessment, political in nature. It contained partisan assertions, selective narratives, and direct attempts at influencing public opinion on a matter that is under active political contestation.
What is even more concerning is that this address was broadcast on national public broadcasters such as Doordarshan and Sansad TV. The use of state resources and publicly funded platforms for disseminating what is essentially a political speech constitutes a grave breach of electoral norms. It undermines the level playing field that the Election Commission is constitutionally mandated to uphold during the period when the Model Code of Conduct is in operation.
Any failure to take cognisance of such an instance risks signalling institutional complicity and eroding public confidence in the impartiality of the Election Commission. I urge the Commission to take prompt and sincere action in this matter, initiate an inquiry, and ensure accountability so that the sanctity of the electoral process is preserved.
Sandosh Kumar P. Leader of the CPI in Rajya Sabha