The Election Commission (EC) is yet to decide on a complaint against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on April 9 in which he allegedly appealed to first-time voters to dedicate their vote to Pulwama martyrs.
However, its national grievances service portal is showing the status of complaint as “resolved”.
Taking cognisance of the issue, the Commission has sought an explanation from the Returning Officer concerned in Maharashtra for the wrong entry.
“As it turns out, the officer should have mentioned on the portal that the matter had been referred to the EC. The entry is accordingly being changed,” said a senior EC official, adding that the decision on Mr. Modi’s speech would be taken soon.
The grievances service portal can be accessed by complainants to check the status of action being taken on their grievances. One Mahendra Singh had lodged the complaint against Mr. Modi’s speech in Maharashtra on April 9. He purportedly found that even though the Commission had not taken the final decision, the portal showed that his complaint had been “resolved.”
The same portal shows that a report on the impugned speech was submitted to the EC on April 14, as confirmed by poll panel officials at a press conference on Tuesday.
The officials had said that the Commission was examining the contents of an authorised transcript of the speech.
Asked why the complaints against Mr. Modi’s disputed speeches had not been uploaded onto the Election Commission’s online database, the officials had said that only when a prima facie case of violation was made out that the complaints were uploaded.