The Election Commission (EC) of Bihar, on the 12th of May, issued a show cause notice to Giriraj Singh, the Government of India Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC.)
The MCC is a set of guidelines issued by the ECI, which every politician has to follow during the Assembly and the 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.
According to the notice issued to Giriraj Singh, he violated the MCC during a public rally held on the 24th of April, in Begusarai, Bihar.
The EC of Bihar said, the district administration, on the 25th of April, registered a complaint against Singh for his remarks against Muslims.
During the public rally in Begusarai, Mr. Singh targeted Muslims and said, “Those who cannot say Vande Mataram or cannot respect the motherland, the nation will never forgive them. My ancestors died at the Simaria Ghat and did not need a grave but you need three handspans of space.”
The remarks made against the Muslim community were considered a violation of the MCC.
According to the MCC, religion cannot be used while addressing public rallies and conducting campaigns for the Lok Sabha elections.
Recently, on the 7th of May, Giriraj Singh surrendered himself to Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM,) Uttar Pradesh.
However, Giriraj got bail at the time and was asked to furnish two bail bonds of Rs. 5,000 each.
The EC again, on the 12th of May, issued a notice to Giriraj for the Begusarai rally and asked him to be careful regarding his comments.
The notice was issued after the Begusarai administration in Bihar took a suo motu cognizance on the 25th of April. The EC of Bihar issued the show cause notice to Giriraj Singh, on the 12th of May, with regard to the complaint.
Giriraj Singh, the Member of Parliament (MP) candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP,) will contest against Kanhaiya Kumar from the Begusarai constituency in Bihar.
Begusarai will contest during the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections, scheduled on the 19th of May.
The major parties contesting the Lok Sabha elections are the BJP and the Indian National Congress (INC.)
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.
