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The Supreme Court will hear on Tuesday a petition by a Congress MP that charges both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah of violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during their campaigning for Lok Sabha polls.
A bench headed by chief justice Ranjan Gogoi said on Monday that they would hear it tomorrow. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Congress MP Sushmita Dev, alleged that Modi and Shah have violated the MCC and the Election Commission (EC) is not acting on complaint of Dev. Singhvi said four weeks have passed since the MCC was enforced in the country and both the prime minister and Shah have been allegedly violating the code.
Two days ago, Singhvi had a press conference that two leaders have “cheated” on the issue of level playing field for all parties during elections and questioned the “silence of mega policeman” EC. “We have a right to approach the courts seeking action over model code violations… we can exercise that option … the mega policeman has turned a blind eye,” Singhvi had alleged.
Taking a jibe at EC, he called it “Election Omission” and wondered whether Modi and Shah are outside the ambit of the MCC, which he dubbed as “Modi code of conduct”.
He claimed that the two leaders have violated the poll code broadly under three categories: polarisation of votes, invoking armed forces in campaigns and conducting rallies on election day.
“The EC has taken action against several leaders for violating the poll code based on our complaints. We appreciate that. Since the precedent has been set, why not take action against Modi and Shah,” he said.
—India Legal Bureau