‘Explain stance within 24 hours or face appropriate action’: EC issues notice to Kharge over ‘terrorist’ remark on PM

A press conference is likely to be addressed by TMC leaders on O’Brien’s name being mentioned in the earlier version of the notice, TMC sources said. Senior MPs of the Congress and TMC were in contact late on Wednesday evening over the issue, it is learnt.

Reacting to the notice, which came after the poll panel received the BJP’s complaint earlier in the day in this regard, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said on X: “Now @ECISVEEP has been caught LYING and brazenly CHEATING. Shameful is an understatement. The CEC should resign. He has lost all moral authority and is an absolute, unmitigated disgrace. History will record him as a coward who consistently chose to sacrifice Indian democracy at the altar of his master’s political expediency.”

In its show-cause notice to the Congress president, the EC said two complaints by the BJP on Tuesday and Wednesday alleged that Kharge’s remarks were in violation of the MCC as well as relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

“Whereas, use of intemperate and highly objectionable and dehumanising choice of words by a seasoned politician against a constitutional functionary appears to be not only inconsistent with the standards of public discourse but also undermines the dignity of democratic institutions,” the EC said, in the first MCC notice by the Commission this election cycle.

On Wednesday morning, a high-level BJP delegation had filed a formal complaint against Kharge, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, over the remark.

Comprising Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Law and Justice Minister Arjun Meghwal, BJP national general secretary Arun Singh and senior leader Om Pathak, the delegation alleged that the Congress had overstepped all limits in “abusing” the PM.

Reacting to the EC notice, Ramesh, in a post on X, said that the EC “dances to the tune of the PM and HM has been obvious for some time”.

Earlier, addressing reporters after the meeting with the EC, Rijiju said, “I think this matter is no longer restricted to the BJP, it is a matter concerning our nation, our democracy.”

Rijiju said the delegation has sought strict action against Kharge and an apology from him.

Sitharaman said the delegation had sought to underline to the EC that “no less than the president of the Congress party” had spoken “such condemnable words” against the PM in an election-bound state on the eve of a year since the Pahalgam terror attack.

She said that Kharge’s statement was in line with “a pattern” of using “chosen abusive language against the PM” repeatedly.

Calling Kharge’s remarks “outrageous”, she said, “You find a PM who has taken the sternest position and made sure that terrorism is not given even an inch of space in this country and here is the Congress president calling him a terrorist.”

On the final day of campaigning in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday, Kharge had said, “Periyar, Dr Ambedkar, Annadurai, Kamaraj and Kalaignar – these people stood for women’s reservation, justice, equality and fraternity… How can these AIADMK people join hands with Modi when their party itself was founded by Annadurai? He is a terrorist. His party does not believe in equality and justice.”

He later said, “I just want to clarify that what I said was that Modi always threatens, using agencies… in that context, I said he is terrorising people and political parties. I never said he is a terrorist.”