The Election Commission of India (ECI,) on the 17th of April, banned the ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ advertisement campaign of the Indian National Congress (INC) in Madhya Pradesh.
Rajesh Kaul, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Madhya Pradesh, on the 17th of April, wrote a letter to Rahul Gandhi, the President of the INC, and asked him to stop the ad campaign.
The Rahul Gandhi led INC was using ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ as a campaign strategy in many public rallies and roadshows. Rahul Gandhi also used the Rafale deal as a way to target the PM Modi led the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.
The decision of the EC came after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) filed a complaint against Rahul Gandhi for making defamatory comments and insulting the Party.
On the 16th of April, Ravi Shankar Prasad, a Union Minister of India, along with other BJP leaders, met Sunil Arora, the Chief Election Commissioner of India. The members, during the meeting, expressed their anger over the comments and demanded a ban on the campaigns of Rahul Gandhi for the Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP leaders alleged Mr. Gandhi of using the term ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ and making false allegations against PM Modi regarding the Rafale deal to the Supreme Court (SC.)
The Joint Election Commissioner Officer issued a notice to all the state district officers across India and asked them to ban the advertisement’s broadcast.
The order came after the Media Certification and Inspection Committee cancelled the advertisement certification and said, the ad campaign should no longer be broadcasted.
V.L. Kantarao, the Chief Election Officer of Madhya Pradesh, also directed the poll body to take action against Rahul Gandhi, apart from issuing the notice.
The parties contesting the Lok Sabha elections use defamatory words and hate speeches against opposition parties to win the Lok Sabha elections. Due to this, the ECI designed the Model Code of Conduct (MCC.)
The MCC is a set of guidelines imposed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) which every political party needs to follow. The MCC prevents the parties and politicians from crossing their limits and defaming any political parties or individuals. The MCC comes into action after the ECI announces the dates of the elections and continues till the results are announced.
Until now, the ECI issued a notice regarding the violation of the MCC to politicians such as Mayawati Das, Yogi Adityanath, Azam Khan and K. Chandrashekar Rao.
The Lok Sabha elections began on the 11th of April and will continue till the 19th of May 2019.
The major parties contesting the Lok Sabha elections are the Indian National Congress (INC) and the BJP.
The results of the Lok Sabha elections will be announced on the 23rd of May 2019.
Stay tuned for further updates about the Lok Sabha elections.
