EC notice to Rahul Gandhi for calling PM Modi ‘pickpocket’ and ‘panauti’

In its complaint on Wednesday, the BJP had accused Rahul of making “wild allegations” and speaking in a “derisive and obnoxious manner about the PM” during an election rally in Rajasthan.

Referring to India’s defeat in the cricket World Cup final, Rahul had blamed Modi’s presence in the stadium. “PM matlab Panauti Modi,” he had said. While comparing Modi to a pickpocket, Rahul had alleged that while the PM diverts people’s attention, industrialist Gautam Adani picks their pockets. He had also alleged that Modi had granted loan waivers to the wealthy adding up to Rs 14 lakh crore in the last nine years.

VIDEO | “We will face any notice that comes to us,” says Congress president @kharge on Election Commission notice to Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on PM. pic.twitter.com/5HRP3A0lbC

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 23, 2023

The EC notice cited the MCC provision that says criticism based on “unverified allegations or distortion” should be avoided. It said the use of “panauti” falls under the definition of corrupt practice, as per the Representation of the People Act, 1951, that attempts to make an elector believe that he or she “will become or will be rendered an object of divine displeasure or spiritual censure”.

In its complaint, the BJP had said: “Calling any person… a jeb katra not only amounts to vicious abuse and personal attack but also a character assassination of that person…To even remotely suggest that the PM… can be ill omen ‘panuati’ is highly reprehensible and condemnable. Winning or losing a game is not a function of who is watching, but the respective strengths of the teams in the game. Further, the allegation that the PM has granted waivers to the tune of Rs 14,00,000 crore in the past nine years is most mischievous and malicious.”

It said the PM had not waived any loans and all banks function under the supervision of the Reserve Bank of India.