'Huge Violation’: BJP lodges complaint against Rahul Gandhi over his social media post on Rajasthan poll day

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has filed a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) against Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Rahul Gandhi for allegedly breaching the Representation of People Act 1951. 

The matter revolves around a post by Gandhi on "X" (formerly Twitter) which BJP claims violated the 48-hour silence period law. Gandhi's post, which encompassed topics like healthcare, gas subsidies, agricultural debt relief, English education and Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations -along with an encouragement for increased turnout in the ongoing Rajasthan polls, is said to be infringing the stipulated time limit.

The BJP charges that disseminating such information on the polling day in Rajasthan is an offence under Section 126 of the Act, barring any display of election-related material within 48 hours of the closing of polls in any given constituency. The party has called on the ECI to take immediate action against Gandhi.

In a formal letter to the Election Commission, the BJP claimed that a post made by Gandhi had received significant attention on social media, with over 2,30,900 views as of 10:35 AM on November 25, constituting a massive violation of law.

“This constitutes a huge violation of law by star campaigner of the Congress party. Such an audacious act on the date of voting deserves to be handled strongly by the Commission and stern punitive action should be taken urgently against the delinquent (sic),” it added.

The party urged the Election Commission to instruct social media platform 'X' to suspend Gandhi's account promptly and erase the offensive content. Further, the BJP also appealed to the poll body to direct the Chief Election Officer of Rajasthan to file a criminal complaint, paving the way for criminal prosecution against the Congress leader.

On Saturday, voting is underway in 199 of the state's 200 assembly constituencies. Over 5.25 crore people will decide the fate of 1,862 contenders in these 199 seats.

This comes after the Election Commission issued a notice to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday over his invective remarks – 'panauti' (bad omen) and 'jebkatra' (pickpocket) - against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This notice is in response to a complaint filed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with the poll body against the Member of Parliament from Wayanad. 

The EC has asked Gandhi to submit an explanation by 6 pm on Saturday, articulating why disciplinary action should not be initiated against him for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The MCC is a set of guidelines that political parties and candidates need to follow to ensure free and fair elections.

At an election rally in Rajasthan earlier this week, Rahul Gandhi called PM Modi a "panauti" and said that his presence in the stadium caused India to lose the 2023 World Cup final match against Australia on Sunday.

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