The Election Commission (EC) has
issued a show cause notice to AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal for the violation of
the model code of conduct, ahead of the coming assembly elections in New Delhi
today. The notice has come in the light of his allegation against the BJP of
trying to break the communal harmony in the state. The EC has asked him to
corroborate his corruption allegation against the state head of the BJP Satish
Upadhyay.
Sources say that the notice comes
after Mr Upadhyay complained to the EC of his 'unjustified' behavior. The EC
has directed Mr Kejriwal to answer the show cause notice before 3PM on 20
January; if he fails to comply, the EC will take further action against him
without any further communication.
The EC refers to a complaint by
Upadhyay in which he has alleged that the AAP supremo has, in a press meet,
made false allegations against the BJP of trying to disrupt the communal
harmony in the capital city and has incited communal violence in Trilokpuri and
Nandnagri and has same evil designs for Nangloi and Bawana. Upadhyay's
complaint also includes Kerjiwal's allegations against the saffron party of
being responsible for attacks on churches in Delhi.
The EC has issued a statement
that reminds Kejriwal of the model code of conduct which says, "no party
or candidate shall indulge in any activity which may aggravate existing
differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes
and communities, religious or linguistic." The statement says it looks
like that by making such statement, "you (Kejriwal) have violated the
provision of sub-para (1) of para I of Model Code of Conduct."
The EC notice says that EC has
received anither complaint from Satish Upadhyay that alleges that Arvind
Kejriwal has levelled false and baseless allegations of corruption against him
and Ashish Sood, general secretary of the BJP's state unit. Taking action the
corruption allegation, the EC reminded kejriwal of another provision of the
code of conduct that says, "Criticism of other parties or their workers
based on unverified allegations or distortion shall be avoided."
The BJP seems pleased. Satish Upadhyay
said, "We welcome the EC's decision of taking cognizance of our complaint.
The commission has taken cognizance of his (Kejriwal) attempts to inflict
personal damage and tarnish my image. He had remarked that BJP is inciting
communal tensions in Trilokpuri and Bawana and the Commission has taken cognizance
of that as well."
On Wednesday, the AAP chief had
made serious corruption charges against Satish Upadhyay and talked about a probable nexus between him and
the various power companies.
The Model Code of Conduct came
into existence on 12 January when the dates for the Delhi assemble elections
were declared by the EC. The voting will take place on 7 February and counting
will be held on 10 February.
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