The Congress party has filed complaints with the Election Commission against Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. These complaints allege that statements made by the two leaders during the Chhattisgarh assembly poll campaign violated the model code of conduct.
A Congress delegation, including AICC general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh, party leader Salman Khurshid, AICC state in-charge for Telangana Manikrao Thakre, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief Revanth Reddy, former TPCC chief Uttam Kumar Reddy, and CLP leader (Telangana assembly) Bhatti Vikramarka, met with the Chief Election Commissioner and other election commissioners. They presented eight different memorandums detailing poll code violations in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana.
In their complaint against Amit Shah, the Congress informed the EC that the Home Minister had made statements during a speech in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon on October 16. Shah alleged, “Bhupesh Baghel’s government, for appeasement politics and vote bank politics, lynched Chhattisgarh’s son Bhuneshwar Sahoo and got him killed.” Shah also mentioned that the BJP had pledged to bring Sahoo’s killers to justice and stated, “in his honor, we are fielding his father Ishwar Sahoo as a candidate in the elections.” The Congress argued that these statements and claims violate the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
The complaint against Assam Chief Minister Sarma pertained to a speech he delivered in Chhattisgarh’s Kawardha on October 18 while campaigning against Congress candidate Mohd Akbar. Sarma had said, “If one Akbar comes to some place, he calls 100 Akbars. So, send him off as soon as possible, otherwise the land of Mata Kaushalya will get defiled.” Sarma also leveled allegations against Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, stating, “Today, the tribals of Chhattisgarh, who are dear to us, are being encouraged to convert their religion on a daily basis. And when someone raises their voice against it, Bhupesh Baghel ji says ‘we are secular’. Is beating up Hindus your secularism? This country is a country of Hindus and will belong to Hindus. Do not teach us secularism, we do not need to learn secularism from you.” The Congress leaders claimed that these statements and claims were intended to incite sections of society against each other.
Additionally, the Congress alleged that the central government had issued orders directing civil servants and Indian Army soldiers to promote the achievements of the BJP dispensation, a move deemed to be a violation of the model code of conduct and the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964.
The Congress also submitted a complaint against Govind Singh Rajput, the BJP candidate from Surkhi, Sagar district in Madhya Pradesh, seeking his disqualification. The party alleged that he had publicly stated that he would pay Rs 25 lakh to booth in-charges where the maximum number of votes were cast for the BJP.
Further complaints highlighted “unlawful” transfer and posting of police officers in Telangana, claiming that these officers were transferred before completing two-and-a-half years of their mandated tenure, as per the EC’s rules. The Congress also alleged that officers publicly supporting a specific political party had been assigned election duties in Telangana.
In their memorandum to the poll panel, the Congress mentioned that they had consistently exposed electoral malpractices, leading to the deletion of bogus voters, registration of FIRs against those engaged in electoral malpractices, transfer of officials violating the law, and campaign bans against repeat offenders.
Salman Khurshid stressed the need to curtail interference from leaders of other political parties during the electoral process, emphasizing the importance of maintaining a level playing field. He noted that divisive and polarizing issues raised by leaders like the Union home minister and the Assam chief minister could divert attention from important election issues and cause division among voters.
Former TPCC chief Reddy stated that elections in Telangana had become increasingly corrupt since the current party came to power and called on the Election Commission of India to ensure free and fair elections in the state.
