Congress demands FIR against Modi for poll code violation

The Congress Thursday demanded an FIR be lodged against BJP leader Narendra Modi, party workers and TV channels for poll code violation with the telecast of the Gujarat chief minister's road show ahead of his filing his nomination from Varanasi.

Commerce Minister and Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma said an FIR should be lodged against Modi, BJP workers and the TV channels for violating the model code of conduct.

"Sanctity of the law and electoral process has been violated. Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act says that no kind of publicity or demonstration can take place on a polling day," Sharma said.

He claimed the BJP's prime ministerial candidate and workers violated the model code by participating in a road show on the day polling is being held in 117 Lok Sabha seats in the country.

Sharma added that the electronic media was equally at fault for telecasting the road show held before the nomination.

"The model code of conduct has been thrown to the winds. Why was the media not told it could not telecast such events live on a polling day," Sharma said. However, he clarified that the decision to proceed against the media could only be taken by the Election Commission.

"We have made a formal complaint to the EC. A party delegation will meet EC officials later today (Thursday)," he said.