‘Brazen’ transgressions by PM Modi are made possible by the passivity of the India poll watchdog, according to the opposition
The opposition in India said that by failing to act upon their allegations of religious hate speech and misinformation, the country’s electoral commission was permitting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to carry out “unchecked and brazen” violations.
In a letter to the Election Commission of India on Friday, the opposition Congress party expressed dissatisfaction over the fact that “no meaningful action has been taken to penalize those who are guilty in the ruling regime,” more than halfway through the world’s largest six-week national elections.
It declared this to be a “complete abdication” of the commission’s responsibility. “As a result, there has been an unchecked and brazen continuation of these violations, which are now committed with impunity and utter disregard.”
In the multiethnic country of South Asia, the watchdog is in charge of making sure political parties don’t promote division along caste, religious, or linguistic lines in violation of election laws.
In his campaign speeches, Modi—who is running for an uncommon third term in a row—has attacked the Congress, saying it wishes to support minority Muslims at the expense of other underprivileged communities.
Requests for feedback were not answered by commission representatives or Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
On June 4, the results of an election in the most populated country in the world will be made public.
A video posted by a BJP state unit accused Congress leaders of plotting to give welfare benefits to Muslims at the expense of other marginalized tribal and Hindu caste communities. The commission on Tuesday asked social media platform X to remove the video.
The commission has requested a response from BJP chief J.P. Nadda over a speech he gave on April 21 in which Modi said the Congress intended to divide wealth from Hindus among Muslims, whom he referred to as “infiltrators” and “those with many children,” but it did not rule on the complaints.
The BJP claims to have submitted three complaints, and the commission has also served notice to the Congress about these claims.
Former head of the three-member election committee S.Y. Qureshi remarked, “The delay puts a question mark on the credibility of the election commission and therefore on the election process.” “Any damage to its reputation will cause incalculable harm to the legitimacy of India’s democracy.”
In the opposition letter, the Congress lists ten complaints that it has filed against Modi and his top advisers since April 6 for making “divisive,” “false,” and “provocative” remarks that they claim incite sectarian strife and distort the party’s objectives.
Following his meeting with commission officials on Friday, Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters, “We are not told what is the response, what is the action being taken.”
Singhvi declared, “This is an irreversible window.” “If they don’t act promptly it would be a complete abdication of constitutional duty.”
As the campaign time is very short, Ashok Lavasa, who served as an election commissioner for the 2019 general election, stated that the procedure from receiving a complaint to making a decision “should not take more than three to four days because otherwise it loses purpose”.
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