NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Monday held that former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath's "item" remark against state minister and BJP candidate for Dabra assembly bypoll Imarti Devi had violated its advisory.
The poll panel had on April 29, 2019 asked "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".
It accordingly advised the senior Congress leader, whose remark was earlier disapproved by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi as "unfortunate", not to use "any such world or statement during the period of model code of conduct".
The EC's order came despite Kamal Nath's denial of any malice or intent to disrespect Imarti Devi in his response to the commission's notice, in which he cited his track record to claim that his 40 years of public life had seen no allegation of misconduct or ill-tempered remark being attributed to him.
He also hinted that the remark was made in the heat of the election campaign and drew the EC's attention to the regret he had expressed the day after.
The poll panel, however, did not accept the former chief minister's request to close the complaint against him and advised him not to make such utterances till the model code remains in force.
The "advice" to Kamal Nath came on a day it rained notices in Madhya Pradesh that is witnessing 28 assembly bypolls.
The EC issued notice to senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvarghiya for referring to former Congress chief ministers Digvijaya Singh and Kamal Nath as "chunnu-munnu" and "gaddar" (traitor) while addressing a rally at Sanwer, Indore on October 14.
It also served a notice to Congress leader Sajjan Singh Verma for equating Vijayvargiya with "Raavan" during a speech at Sanwer, Indore on October 15. Both leaders have been directed to submit their replies within 48 hours of receiving the EC notice.
Kamal Nath, in his reply sent to EC earlier, stated that the Supreme Court had many times over stated that in the heat of elections, many statements were made in the spur of the moment. "In this case, there was neither any premeditation nor design to dishonour or in-dignify a woman or womanhood. It was an admonition of the political scenario which is replete with drama," he argued.
Stating that there was no malice or intent to disrespect a lady, the former chief minister recalled his regret expressed earlier and the clarification given by him the very next day to underline that he had no intention to disregard the EC advisory issued in 2019.
He said upholding dignity of women had been the cornerstone of his public life, and that during his public career spanning for decades - during which he served as MP, Union minister and chief minister - no allegation of misconduct or ill-tempered remark qua women or anybody had ever been attributed to him. Hoping that the EC would appreciate his response in the context of his public track record, Kamal Nath said: "The hubris of electioneering cannot and must not ignore the life record of the individual".