Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers carry flags past a poster of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Representative image
PTI
New Delhi: A Congress delegation on Monday took up with the Election Commission eight complaints regarding Jharkhand and Maharashtra assembly polls, including a "communal" image posted by the BJP depicting reservations being taken from SCs, STs and OBCs and given to members of a minority community.
The opposition party claimed that all the eight complaints raised by it were found "valid" by the poll body.
"We raised some serious concerns with the Election Commission. These matters were discussed today. All the eight complaints raised by the Congress were found valid by the Election Commission," Congress MP Sasikanth Senthil, who led the delegation, told reporters outside the EC office here.
In his memorandum to the EC on Monday, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh cited the said image posted on the BJP's X handle with the caption -- "Congress-led MVA's game of appeasement is ON... Vote wisely, Maharashtra".
"The image in the post falsely depicted an individual forcing out members of the SC, ST and OBC communities out of a rickshaw and accommodating a person belonging to a certain religious minority community," Ramesh said in his memorandum.
The image is clearly a brazen and blatant attempt by the BJP to propagate a false and baseless narrative about the Congress, he said.
"In light of the above, we request that this Hon'ble Commission directs the immediate takedown of the post from all social media handles of the BJP. Further, we request that this Hon'ble Commission takes urgent action against the BJP and its Official X Handle i.e. BJP4India," Ramesh said.
The cartoon posted by the BJP shows a person resembling Congress leader Rahul Gandhi pushing members of SC, ST and OBC communities out of a rickshaw and accommodating a person belonging to a certain religious minority community.
Earlier, sources said an FIR has been lodged at Ranchi for violation of the Model Code of Conduct and legal provisions against the BJP's Jharkhand unit for posting false and misleading videos on the 'BJP 4 Jharkhand' social media handle against INDIA bloc leaders.
The cybercrime police station Ranchi has also written to the microblogging platform to remove the objectionable posts under Section 69(A) of the IT Act, the sources said.
The EC had also received a complaint on Sunday from Congress leader Ramesh regarding false and misleading videos posted by 'BJP 4 Jharkhand' on its official social media handles.
In a memorandum submitted to the EC on Sunday, Ramesh had urged the poll body to issue directives for the immediate takedown of all videos of the advertisement and consequently take urgent action against the BJP and its official Facebook handle for Jharkhand.
The advertisement, which appeared to take a dig at Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav by featuring three characters resembling them, showed them as "anti-tribal" and how they now want tribals' votes.
The Congress has also raised a complaint alleging police inaction in connection with an "attack" on a delegation of its leaders by BJP members in Samaguri assembly constituency.
"There have also been instances of misuse of police powers for conducting raids and arresting supporters of the INC," the party said regarding the complaint pertaining to the Assam bypolls.
In his memorandum on the matter dated November 8, Ramesh urged the poll watchdog to issue orders to transfer Nagaon Superintendent of Police Swapneel Deka, as well as officers in-charge of Rupahi and Khatowal police stations Sanjib Kumar and Biku Barma respectively with immediate effect.
"Further, to ensure that the elections conducted in Samaguri assembly constituency are free from any encumbrances, we request this Hon'ble Commission to deploy additional security forces to the said Assembly Constituency and install functional CCTVs in the following booths," he said.
The Congress also raised with the EC a complaint from the Mahila Congress.
"We are writing to you with respect to an issue of grave concern that requires immediate intervention from this Commission. This representation pertains to certain statements made by Mr. Dhananjay Mahadik, Member of Parliament from the State of Maharashtra and Spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)," Mahila Congress chief Alka Lamba said in her letter to the EC on November 10.
"On November 9, during an election event in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, Mahadik made several statements which constituted a clear threat to voters who were going to cast their vote for the Indian National Congress' (INC) Candidate," she said.
While elections to the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will be held on November 13 and November 20, polls for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly will be held on November 20. The votes will be counted on November 23.
Assembly Elections 2024 | The Maharashtra Assembly polls will take place against the backdrop of a fractured political landscape in the western state where the Shiv Sena and NCP will be going up against the Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar factions, even as the BJP and Congress try to make their mark. Meanwhile, in Jharkhand, the JMM faces a new challenge after Hemant Soren's recent arrest and Champai, a longstanding party member, joining the BJP. The Haryana election resulted in a shock loss for Congress, which was looking to galvanize on the Lok Sabha poll performance, while J&K also saw the grand old party eventually stepping away from the cabinet, with Omar Abdullah's JKNC forming government. It remains to be seen if the upcoming polls help BJP cement its position further or provide a fillip to I.N.D.I.A. Check live updates and track the latest coverage, live news, in-depth opinions, and analyses only on Deccan Herald.
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