A delegation from the Congress Party met with the Election Commission of India on Monday and filed 16 complaints including the offensive speech made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Rajasthan on Sunday. The Congress delegation comprised of Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Gurdeep Sappal, and Supriya Shrinate.

In the memorandum to ECI on the Prime Minister’s ‘communal speech’, Congress MP Randeep Singh Surjewala said that PM Modi and the BJP have “deliberately and repeatedly, invoked religion, religious symbols and religious sentiments in its election campaign and the same is being done without any impunity”, encouraged by the Commission’s “inaction”.

Condemning the “entire tone and tenor” of PM Modi’s the “highly objectionable, divisive and ex-facie illegal speech”, Surjewala said that it was “clearly aimed at creating enmity between groups, far worse than any ever made by a sitting Prime Minister in the history of India.”

The Congress stressed that ECI must hold PM accountable or risk “tarnishing its legacy and abandoning its Constitutional duty by setting a precedent of helpless inaction that will go down in infamy.”

“In the present case, the Prime Minister’s statements to the voters is not only violative of the Representation of People Act, 1951, the Model Code of Conduct, Indian Penal Code, Hon’ble Commission’s instructions, but also forms a part of larger and grossly problematic strategy of maliciously create enmity on grounds of religion and also tarnish the principal opposition party based on rank falsehoods with a view to adversely impact the minds of the voters,” the memorandum stated.

Congress also said that the gravity of the offence is even more serious given that it is the Prime Minister who is making the statements.

The other complaints filed by the Congress Party with ECI included:

– Complaint against fresh appointments of members to the UGC by the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resources, in violation of the Model Code of Conduct

– Complaint against Topon Kumar Gogoi, BJP candidate from Jorhat Parliamentary Constituency. and his associates for distributing cash to voters.

– Complaint against the BJP for using Prime Minister Modi’s image along with Governmental Schemes in their political advertisements in Uttar Pradesh.

– Complaint against the BJP for its social media post and political advertisements in the State of Gujarat by which the BJP has attempted to position itself as the Political Party which is dedicated to Lord Ram, as evidenced by the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

– Representation regarding EVM related issues as observed during the Mock Polls in Kasaragod, Kerala.

– Complaint against news channels for projecting religion as an election issue and propagating a “Us vs. Them” narrative between different religious groups and the political parties which ‘support’ them.

– Representation with respect to the Elections conducted in the State of Manipur seeking i) repolling in the 72 polling booths ii) initiation of an investigation into reports of electoral malpractices; in light of several reported instances breach security protocols at various polling stations across the State of Manipur.

– Representation seeking the Transfer of Dr. Subhita Dhaka, CEO of the Zila Parishad, Jhajjar District and the District Rural Development Authority, Jhajjar on account of the fact that her husband, Ranvir Dhaka is the BJP’ Candidate for the Rohtak Parliamentary Constituency which comprises of 3 districts, including Jhajjhar. Additionally, there have also been reports of instances where Dr. Dhaka has been a part of her husband’s political campaign.

– Representation against the BJP’s continued use of the Armed Forces in its election campaign and political advertising

– Representation against the BJP’s continued use of religious figures (Lord Ram) and Places of Worship (Construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya) in its Political Advertisements.

– Representation seeking clarification on permissibility of campaigning in constituencies in a State where certain constituencies are up for polling while others are not. The Representations is sought to have further clarity on certain restrictions and prohibitions political parties must observe while campaigning in States where the “silence period” is in effect in some Parliamentary Constituencies of the State.

– Representation against a newspaper for publishing an exit poll for some constituencies where polling was conducted as part of Phase-I of the polling schedule for the 18th Lok Sabha Elections

– Representation seeking an inquiry into Doordarshan News in light of its decision to change the colour of its logo to saffron during the elections period, a colour that is universally associated with the BJP in Indian Politics.

– Complaint against IAS officer Anjali Birla, daughter of Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla, for actively participating in the BJP’s electoral campaign for the 18th Lok Sabha Elections 2024

– Representation against an Order passed by the Returning Officer, Surat Parliamentary Constituency, cancelling the nomination of Nilesh Kumbhani on the grounds that his proposers claimed that they were coerced to nominate Kumbhani. Since the complaint, the whereabouts of the proposers is not known and it suspected that they have been abducted. Despite the precarious circumstances, the RO passed an Order cancelling Nilesh Kumbhani’s nomination.