The Election Commission has issued notices to both the parties regarding the complaints lodged by BJP and Congress against each other in the ongoing assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The Election Commission has written separate letters to BJP President JP Nadda and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge asking them to respond to the complaint. Secondly, the Commission has sought feedback from both the parties and exchanged complaints between them.
The Election Commission has sought formal replies from both the party presidents by 1 pm on November 18 while reminding them of the previous advice of the Election Commission on May 22, 2024 to retain star campaigners and leaders during the Lok Sabha elections. So that public rules are not violated and the model code of conduct is followed in letter and spirit during the election campaign.
In Jharkhand, BJP has alleged that Congress had released the manifesto a day before voting i.e. during the silent period. BJP had objected to this, calling it a violation of the code of conduct and had complained to the State Election Commission. BJP says that Congress has violated the Constitution and election rules, hence action should be taken against it.
Regarding this, the BJP delegation led by Sudhir Srivastava had reached the Election Commission on 14 November. BJP leaders had said in their complaint that the silent period had started from 5 pm, one day before the elections (11th). No manifesto can be issued during this period, but Congress leaders did so. Therefore action should be taken against him.
On the other hand, in Maharashtra, Congress has demanded a ban on the election campaign of BJP Rajya Sabha MP Dhananjay Mahadik. Congress has accused the BJP MP of saying during the election campaign that women who vote for Congress will not get the benefits of government schemes. Congress had approached the Election Commission regarding this and demanded a ban on Mahadik from participating in election campaign activities.
