The Election Commission (EC) on Friday found BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya in violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for calling Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh “chunnu-munnu” while speaking at a rally in the ongoing Madhya Pradesh bypolls campaign.
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The EC had issued a notice to Mr. Vijayvargiya on Monday for his remarks made at a rally in Sanwer, Indore, on October 14. In his response to the notice on Tuesday, the BJP leader denied the allegation and said the remarks quoted in the notice were in “complete misunderstanding of the context”, the EC order said. He said the remark could not be considered as criticism of aspects of private life, which the MCC did not allow.
The EC said it had considered the matter and was of the view that Mr. Vijayvargiya had violated the MCC’s para two, which states: “Criticism of other political parties, when made, shall be confined to their policies and programme, past record and work. Parties and candidates shall refrain from criticism of all aspects of private life, not connected with the public activities of the leaders or workers of other parties. Criticism of other parties or their workers based on unverified allegations or distortion shall be avoided.”
The EC advised the BJP leader not to use any such word or statement while making public utterances during the period of the MCC.
