India poll watchdog's inaction lets PM Modi commit 'brazen' violations,
opposition says
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[May 11, 2024]
By Krishn Kaushik
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's opposition said the nation's election
commission was allowing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to continue
"unchecked and brazen" violations by not taking action on opposition
complaints of religious hate speech and misrepresentation.
More than halfway through India's six-week national elections, the
world's biggest, the Congress party-led opposition complained in a
letter to the Election Commission of India on Friday that "no meaningful
action has been taken to penalize those who are guilty in the ruling
regime".
This was a "complete abdication" of the commission's duty, it said. "As
a result there has been an unchecked and brazen continuation of these
violations, which are now committed with impunity and utter disregard."
The watchdog is responsible for ensuring political parties do not
violate election rules against promoting division along religious, caste
or linguistic lines in the multiethnic South Asian nation.
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In his campaign speeches, Modi, seeking a rare third consecutive term,
has targeted the Congress, claiming it wants to help minority Muslims at
the expense of other socially disadvantaged groups.
Representatives for the commission and Modi's Hindu-nationalist
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not respond to requests seeking
comment.
Election results in the world's most populous nation are to be announced
on June 4.
The commission on Tuesday ordered social media platform X to take down a
video posted by a BJP state unit that accused Congress leaders of
planning to extend welfare benefits to Muslims at the cost of other
disadvantaged tribal and Hindu caste groups.
While not making any rulings on the complaints, the commission has
sought a response from BJP chief J.P. Nadda for an April 21 speech in
which Modi said the Congress planned to redistribute wealth from Hindus
among Muslims, whom he called "infiltrators" and "those with many
children".
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![](../images/051124PIX/news_w46.jpg)
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivers a speech as he
attends an election campaign at Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, April
20, 2024. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar/File Photo
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The commission has also sent a notice to the Congress regarding
complaints by the BJP, which says it has filed three complaints.
"The delay puts a question mark on the credibility of the election
commission and therefore on the election process," said S.Y. Qureshi,
a former head of the three-member election commission. "Any damage
to its reputation will cause incalculable harm to the legitimacy of
India's democracy."
The opposition letter mentions 10 complaints the Congress had lodged
since April 6 against Modi and key aides for what it calls
"divisive", "false" and "provocative" statements that sow sectarian
division and misrepresent Congress' positions.
"We are not told what is the response, what is the action being
taken," Congress lawmaker Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters after
meeting commission officials on Friday.
"This is an irreversible window," Singhvi said. "If they don't act
promptly it would be a complete abdication of constitutional duty."
Ashok Lavasa, who was an election commissioner during the 2019
general election, said the process from receiving a complaint to
deciding on it "should not take more than three to four days because
otherwise it loses purpose", as the campaign phase is quite short.
(Reporting by Krishn Kaushik; Additional reporting by Rupam Jain;
Editing by William Mallard)
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