Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday wrote to the Election Commission of India (EC) seeking action against Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his “terrorist” remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The party called Kharge’s remark a “grossly derogatory” statement and a violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).In a formal complaint to the poll body, the BJP wrote: “As widely reported, Shri Kharge has while addressing a conference called Hon’ble Shri Narendra Modi ‘He is a terrorist.’ The remark has been circulated widely in print, television, and digital media, with substantial potential to vitiate the electoral atmosphere.”The party argued that such remarks amount to “extreme personal vilification” and violate the standards of campaign discourse mandated under the MCC, which is in force in poll-bound Tamil Nadu.Earlier in the day, Kharge sparked controversy after calling PM Modi a “terrorist” during a press conference, while criticising the AIADMK-BJP alliance in Tamil Nadu. However, later, the Congress chief clarified saying he meant the PM was “terrorising people and political parties” and insisted he had not literally called him a terrorist. Now the BJP has responded sharply by moving to the EC with its five-point demand.The BJP urged the EC to “take immediate cognizance of the statement being a prima facie violation of the Model Code of Conduct” and sought directions for Kharge to issue “a public apology/retraction” or face appropriate campaign restrictions.It also called for penal action under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Sections 175, 171/174, and 356(1). The party stated: “Calling a contesting political leader a ‘terrorist’ is not mere policy criticism; it is a grave imputation touching personal character and conduct.”Further, the BJP requested the EC to “direct immediate cessation of further dissemination of the impugned statement in campaign material and digital publicity” and to instruct media and social media platforms to take down such content.It also urged the poll body to “pass such further orders as may be necessary to preserve the dignity of the electoral process and ensure a free, fair, peaceful, and issue-based campaign.”“Such rhetoric lowers the level of campaign discourse, inflames passions, and undermines free and fair elections,” the letter stated.The party further claimed that “branding a political opponent in criminal-terror terminology before voters amounts to an attempt to distort voter choice through fear, demonisation, and false personal branding rather than lawful political persuasion.”The complaint comes hours after an intensyfied campaign in Tamil Nadu ended in on Tuesday evening. The EC has not yet issued a response to the BJP’s letter.
