EC bars Adityanath from campaigning for 3 days, Mayawati for 2

While Adityanath has been banned for three days, Mayawati faces the censure for two days by the ECI.

New Delhi | Updated: April 15, 2019 09:36 PM IST

3 min read

EC bars Adityanath from campaigning for 3 days, Mayawati for 2

The ECI barred Adityanath for three days and Mayawati for two for violating the MCC. (Express Photo)

Days ahead of the phase two Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday barred UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and BSP supremo Mayawati from campaigning for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) over the “Ali and Bajrangbali” remark. While Adityanath has been banned for three days, Mayawati faces the censure for two. The ban will be active from 6 am on April 16.

Read | Lok Sabha elections 2019 LIVE updates

Responding to the ECI order, Mayawati said, “EC has given a one-sided decision. I have been denied the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression. This day will be known as a black day in the history of EC.”

Finding the “Ali and Bajrang Bali” remark made by Adityanath in a Meerut rally “provocative”, the poll watchdog said, “being the CM of a state, Adityanath has an added responsibility of not only upholding the basic tenants including secularism but also to display the same in his public appearance.” The commission expressed that the remarks had the “undertone and propensity of polarising the elections.”

Mayawati urged Muslims to not vote for the Congress and back the UP alliance of the three parties instead.

Responding to a showcause notice issued by the ECI, Adityanath had said that his “Ali and Bajrang Bali” remark was in retaliation to Mayawati’s appeal to Muslim voters in Deoband. Mayawati had made an appeal to Muslim voters in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur and Bareilly districts during the first joint rally of the BSP-SP alliance on April 7. She had cautioned voters, “particularly Muslims”, against splitting their votes in the eight western UP seats that went to polls in the first phase on April 11.

Explained | Why EC has cracked the whip on Yogi and Maya

The Commission, in a statement, said that it found the speech made by Mayawati also to be highly provocative “with the tone and tenor of to aggravate existing difference or create mutual hatred between religious communities,” therefore violating the MCC. The Dalit leader has been barred from holding any public meeting, rallies, road shows, interviews for a period of 48 hours.

The Commission had also issued a showcause notice to Mayawati last week, asking her to explain in 24 hours why she hadn’t violated the MCC and the Representation of the People Act. Defending her appeal, Mayawati had told the EC that her message was actually meant for the “bahujan samaj”, of which Muslims are also a part.

The Model Code of Conduct states that “there shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes”.

From the homepage