Congress moves EC against PM’s jibe at Rajiv Gandhi, Arun Jaitley hits back

The BJP hit back, saying that Congress president Rahul Gandhi had been calling PM Modi a “chor”.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress on Monday knocked on the doors of the Election Commission again, demanding action against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The fresh petition was over his “corrupt number 1” jibe at former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, which it said was “obscene” and “derogatory”.

The BJP hit back, saying that Congress president Rahul Gandhi had been calling PM Modi a “chor”.

A Congress delegation led by Abhishek Singhvi and Salman Khurshid told the EC that “usage of such obscene and derogatory language by the Prime Minister is not only defamatory but also violates the directions of the Model Code of Conduct that must be strictly observed and followed”.

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READ | Your dad was ‘Mr Clean’, but ended life as a ‘bhrashtachari’: PM Modi to Rahul Gandhi

Hitting back, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, “The Congress and its president can call an honest Prime Minister ‘Chor’. No Model Code of Conduct is preventing that. If the PM calls the Congress legacy ‘Corrupt No. 1’ the Congress complains that the Model Code of Conduct is violated. Are there two Model Codes of Conduct?”

READ | PM Modi has crossed all limits of decency, says Chidambaram

Speaking at a rally in Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, Modi had taken a swipe at Rahul, saying, “Your father was termed ‘Mr Clean’ by his courtiers, but his life ended as ‘Bhrashtachari No. 1 (corrupt number 1)’.”

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Also read | ‘Your karma awaits you’: Rahul Gandhi on PM Modi’s ‘Bhrashtachari No. 1’ remark

In its petition, the Congress pointed out that EC’s list of dos and don’ts stipulates that there should be “no criticism of other parties or their workers on basis of unverified allegations or on distortions, that criticism of other political parties and candidates should relate to their policies, programme, past record and work and that no aspect of the private life, not connected with the public activities, of the leaders or workers of other parties shall be criticised”.