Thakur, Parvesh off star campaigner list; EC takes action, but both can still campaign

The Commission has already issued showcause notices to both leaders for their remarks, and both have time until Thursday noon to respond to the notice on the alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

Removal from the star campaigner’s list does not bar Thakur and Verma from campaigning — in fact, Verma was at a rally addressed by Home Minister Amit Shah in Najafgarh on Wednesday. “That decision (whether they should be barred from campaigning) will only be taken once they have presented their defence to the Commission,” said an EC official.

As star campaigners, the expenditure incurred on campaigning by Thakur and Verma was exempt from being added to the expenditure account of a candidate. But this only applied if they limit themselves to general campaign for the BJP.

Their removal from the star campaigner’s list is intended to make campaigning difficult for them. This is because whichever constituency they now hold their election meeting or rally in — irrespective of whether they limit themselves to general party propaganda or not — the entire expenditure of the event will be added to the account of the BJP candidate contesting from that seat. And candidates are not supposed to breach their expenditure limit (Rs 28 lakh in case of Delhi elections).

A recognised political party can have 40 star campaigners and an unrecognised (but registered) political party can have 20. The list of star campaigners has to be communicated to the Chief Electoral Officer and Election Commission within a week from the date of notification of an election.

In wake of the statements made by the two BJP leaders, the EC reiterated its past instructions on the Model Code of Conduct to all political parties Wednesday. The Code forbids communally divisive statements during election campaign, criticism of private life of candidates and leaders or personal attacks and use of religion for election propaganda, among other things.

Asked about the Election Commission’s action against Thakur and Verma, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar, who is also the BJP’s poll in-charge for Delhi, said, “We will study and, if necessary, present the letter and application on what is necessary.”

“We are talking about the development of Delhi… What we will do for Delhi and what the Modi government has done for it; and how the state government tried to stall this… If you listen to the speeches of all these speakers, their focus is also on these issues. If there is any wrong statement, the BJP being a thinking party, it takes cognizance…,” he said.

Asked about the protest against CAA at Shaheen Bagh, which has been cited by many BJP leaders in speeches, Javadekar said, “In a democracy, everybody has a right to protest… But for this, one has to take permission… If a few have decided to sit on a protest without permission, it reflects on them.”

“You have to question both ways. When police entered Jamia, the question was why did it go there? When police did not enter JNU, you asked why it didn’t go there. The same media ask two different questions,” he said.

“Police is trying to end the protest but the way the speeches are being delivered at the protests — freedom for Assam; Jinnah wali azadi; we don’t trust Supreme Court; sloganeering in the support of Afzal — are not good for the country and everybody should condemn this,” he added.