Telangana polls: Congress seeks EC action against BRS for "slanderous" ad

The Congress on Tuesday approached the Election Commission against the "slanderous" campaign by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) against it through advertisement in various newspapers levelling "false" and "baseless" charges.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi said that the grand old party hopes that the poll panel will show the same zeal in taking note of the matter, as it recently showed towards a Congress leader.

"When a political regime is at its weakest, it begins to engage in questionable and often embarrassing political tactics," he said, adding, "Staring at an imminent defeat in the upcoming elections, the BRS has lost all semblance of political restraint and composure."

Referring to an advertisement published in various e-newspapers, Singhvi said that "it demonstrates the desperation to try and diminish the Congress wave that is sweeping the state of Telangana".

“What makes it all the more laughable is that these are the same false, hollow and shameless allegations, in fact the same language, which the BJP has been attempting to use, with a staggering and consistent lack of success, in every election since 2014," he said, adding, “The clear link between the BJP and the BRS now stands exposed before the public."

The second allegation, he said, flows from the fact that normally no newspaper will publish such an advertisement (on its online version especially) without asking for some type of certification, when the Model Code of Conduct is in operation.

“These are very serious charges, unprecedented in their brazenness, and if true, constitute fraud, perjury and misrepresentation," he said, adding that all of these are very serious offences under the Indian Penal Code.