EC slaps notices on Amit Shah, Rahul Gandhi, Lalu Prasad for poll code breach

Asks Shah, Rahul and Lalu to explain their positions on or before 3 pm on Nov 4

The Election Commission (EC) on Sunday issued notices to Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad for violating the poll panel's model code of conduct with their recent public statements.

The EC has asked Shah, Rahul and Lalu to explain their positions on or before 3 pm on November 4. It also cautioned Janata Dal (United) President Sharad Yadav for having violated the model code at a speech made in Bihar Sharif, Nalanda, on September 28.

The EC said prima facie Shah's speech on October 29 in Narkatiyaganj, West Champaran, violated the model code. Shah had said the firecrackers will be burst in Pakistan if the BJP were to lose the Bihar Assembly polls. The EC, in its notice, said that Shah's statement had "the potential of disturbing the harmony and aggravating existing differences between social and religious communities".

The EC found Rahul's statement made on October 29 in Madhubani to have violated the model code.

Rahul had said: "Their army, wherever it goes, whether Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana...they engineer fights between Hindus and Muslims".

In its notice to Lalu, the EC said the RJD chief violated the model code by describing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Brahma pischach and Shah as narbhakshi or cannibal.

The EC also "cautioned" JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav for his reported remarks aimed at influencing voters in the name of divine displeasure and said he should follow the provisions of the model code as he is a senior politician.

In its order, the EC rejected Yadav's contention that the statement was made as an "emotive appeal" using a "hyperbole and metaphor".

"Those who do not keep their promise.... then the Hindus will not get a place in heaven and Muslims will not meet Allah in paradise," Yadav had reportedly told an election rally in Nalanda on October 7 following which the poll panel had issued him a showcause notice.