Notice issued to Maneka Gandhi
The District Election Officer of Sultanpur on Friday served a notice on Union Minister Maneka Gandhi for her remarks at a political rally in Uttar Pradesh, allegedly threatening Muslims not to get their work done if they did not vote for her. She has been given three days to respond.
Addressing an election rally in Turab Khani village, Ms. Gandhi told Muslims that she was all set to win and that they should vote for her as they would need her help in future.
“I am winning... But if my victory is without support from Muslims, I won’t feel that good. Dil khatta ho jayega (heart will become sour). Then when a Muslim comes to me for work, I think let it be, how does it matter?” Ms. Gandhi had said.
The Union Minister is a BJP candidate from Sultanpur constituency.
Her statement had triggered sharp reaction from the Opposition parties. The Congress spokesperson, Randeep Singh Surjewala, accused her of dividing people in the name of caste and community.
Delhi poll body directs BJP to not air content on NaMo TV without certification
Two days after the Election Commission directed that all recorded programmes displayed on NaMo TV be pre-certified, the Delhi poll body has directed the BJP not to air any content on the platform without its certification, officials said.
The poll body had on Thursday said since NaMo TV was sponsored by the BJP, all recorded programmes displayed on the platform should be pre-certified by media certification and monitoring committee of Delhi and all political publicity contents displayed without pre-certification be removed immediately. Following the EC’s directive, the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Delhi wrote to the saffron party to ensure that all political content not approved be removed.
“As a precautionary measure, two officials have been deployed to watch NaMo TV and monitor its content,” officials said.
An official said political parties usually submit audiovisual content for pre-certification, without specifying on which platform it will be aired. The content may be aired during a rally or on the party’s website, he said. After the Congress filed a complaint with the poll panel about the channel disturbing the level playing field, the EC had asked the Delhi CEO to file a report on the issue.
The Delhi CEO approved the logo of NaMo TV, which the BJP said was part of the NaMo App that it owns, but did not “certify” the content as it contained old speeches of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
-PTI
No opposition leader except Stalin backs Rahul for PM: Palaniswami
DMK president Stalin is the only leader who endorsed Congress president Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial candidate, but no other opposition party is ready to accept it, Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said here on Friday.
Campaigning at different parts of Salem for candidates Anbumani Ramadoss-nominee of Dharmapuri constituency , K.R.S.Saravanan for the Salem constituency and P. Kalliappan for Namakkal constituency, he said Mr. Stalin, during his campaign speeches, never talked about what the DMK had done while in power and was levelling false allegations against him.
Criticising the Congress president, he said that while Tamil Nadu had won a favourable judgment in the Cauvery issue, Mr. Gandhi campaigned in Karnataka saying Mekadatu dam would be built.
Was denied CM post thrice, but I didn’t rebel: Kharge
In an obvious reference Umesh Jadhav, the BJP candidate in Kalaburagi Lok Sabha constituency who recently quit Congress on the ‘pretext’ of being denied a ministerial berth in the coalition government, M. Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Leader in the Lok Sabha and party candidate for Kalaburagi, said he too was denied the Chief Ministerial post thrice and yet did not rebel against the party leadership.
“I was denied the Chief Minister’s post thrice for various reasons. Have I ever expressed my discontentment in public? Have I ever rebelled against the party leadership? No, because the party’s ideology and objectives were more important than the CM post. But, a few people, discontent of being denied posts, have quit the party and joined forces that are quite against the Constitution of India. The shift of loyalty shows their true colours and how much they are concerned about the people and the democratic set-up of our country,” he said.
He was addressing an election rally at Pattana Grama in Kalaburagi South Assembly segment here on Friday.