NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Wednesday issued a notice to former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath, asking him to explain his controversial 'item' remark against Madhya Pradesh minister Imarti Devi. He has been given 48 hours to submit his response to EC.
Acting on a complaint received from National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma, EC examined the video clip and transcript of Kamal Nath's October 18 speech at Dabra, Gwalior and found the alleged reference to Imarti Devi, BJP candidate for the bypoll to Dabra assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh, to be in violation of provisions of the model code of conduct and in disregard of an advisory issued by the Commission on April 29, 2019, asking "political parties and candidates to refrain from any deeds/action/utterances that may be construed as being repugnant to the honour and dignity of women".
Kamal Nath's 'item' remark had evoked sharp reactions from BJP which termed it as anti-women and anti-Dalit.
BJP also approached the Madhya Pradesh chief electoral officer seeking action against Kamal Nath, even as NCW chairperson filed a parallel complaint with the Election Commission of India. Sharma has in her complaint strongly condemned "such irresponsible and disparaging statement by a person holding a responsible post".
Incidentally, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too called Kamal Nath's jibe against Imarti Devi "unfortunate".
The EC in its notice on Wednesday referred to two provisions of Paragraph 2 of the model code, that it prima facie felt were violated by the 'item' remark.
The first relates to one providing that no party or candidate shall indulge in any activity which may aggravate the existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities.
The second provision requires parties and candidates to refrain from criticism of all aspects of private life, not connected with the public activities of the leaders or workers of the parties.