A clean chit to Modi by Election Commission a “wrong decision”: Abhishek Manu Singhvi

Congress parliamentarian and party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi has criticised the Election Commission’s decision to give a clean chit to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his controversial remarks at an election rally in Wardha, Maharashtra on April 1.

“According to us, the decision is wrong. But we will wait for a decision on other, more serious complaints. Once we hear the outcomes on the other complaints, only then we will be in a position to decide on our remedies,” Singhvi told National Herald in an interview.

A total of 10 complaints have been lodged against the Prime Minister and BJP President Amit Shah over repeated violations of the Model Code of Conduct in the ongoing election season, amid criticism by opposition leaders that the EC has failed to penalise the two leaders despite repeated breaches of the electoral laws.

It was only after Congress MP Sushmita Deb moved the Supreme Court on Monday that the court directed the EC to take cognisance of the complaints against the PM and the BJP President. After directions from the top court, the EC decided on Tuesday that there was nothing wrong with PM’s remarks on Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest from Wayanad in Kerala.

The inaction of the EC on one of the other violations of the MCC by PM Modi is slated to come up for hearing before the court on Thursday.

Taking potshots at the Election Commission for taking an inordinate amount of time on deciding on complaints against the PM, Singhvi remarked, “The EC has decided on one out of 10 complaints against the PM. On deciding on one complaint, they have taken 30 days.”

“Looks like we have to wait for 270 more days to get a decision on the remaining nine complaints,” he added.

(The full interview with Abhishek Manu Singhvi will be carried in this week’s edition of National Herald on Sunday).