The District Magistrate of Sultanpur, on the 13th of April, issued a show cause notice to Maneka Gandhi, the Union Minister for Women and Children Welfare of India, for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC.)
The MCC is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI,) which every politician has to follow during the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in India.
The MCC comes into force after the ECI announces the dates of the elections and continues until the results of the elections are announced.
The notice issued to Maneka states, she violated the MCC during a public rally, which was held on the 13th of April, in Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
According to the District Magistrate, Ms. Gandhi, during her speech, threatened Muslim voters and asked them to vote for the BJP, which can be considered a violation of the MCC.
The District Magistrate, based on Maneka Gandhi’s statement during the rally, submitted a report to the Election Commission of India, which will decide the next step.
According to sources, during the rally, Ms. Gandhi said, “I have already won the elections, but you will need me. This is your chance to lay the foundation. When the election comes and this booth throws up 100 votes or 50 votes, and then you come to me for work we will see…I don’t see any divides, I see only pain, sadness and love. So it is up to you…”
However, Ms. Gandhi denied the allegations and said, the media twisted her words. She claimed, “I love Muslims… I only meant to say that I am winning the elections and their participation would be like ‘daal pe chaunka’ (seasoning.)”
The opposition party, the Indian National Congress (INC,) took a dig at Ms. Gandhi’s remarks and criticised the BJP leaders for threatening the Muslim community.
The ECI recently sent a show cause notice to other politicians such as Mayawati Das, the President of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP,) and K. Chandrashekar Rao, the Chief Minister of Telangana.
Stay tuned for further updates.
