BJP moves EC to seek campaign ban on Rahul for 'false' allegation against Modi

The BJP Tuesday urged the Election Commission (EC) to ban Congress president Rahul Gandhi from campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls and impose the "heaviest penalty" on him, saying he levelled false allegations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Rafale aircraft deal.

A BJP delegation comprising Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Hardeep Singh Puri among others met Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora with the complaint and demanded action against Gandhi for repeatedly using the term 'chowkidar chor hai' and making false attributions to the Supreme Court.

"Today we have strongly complained to the EC to take serious cognisance, take appropriate action against Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his continuous reckless allegations against the Prime Minister of India by calling him 'Chowkidar chor hai'," Prasad told the reporters outside the EC office after meeting the CEC.

Demanding strict action against Gandhi, the Union law minister also said that the Congress chief's behaviour was in violation of the model code of conduct (MCC).

"It is the EC alone which is authorised to take action in case of violation of MCC. We have urged the EC to impose heaviest penalty on Gandhi including banning him from campaigning because of the reckless manner in which he is abusing the campaign platform. He is shamelessly saying 'chowkidar chor hai' and lying constantly so there should by an investigation into it," Prasad said.

He also said that Gandhi crossed "all limits" by making false attributions to the Supreme Court order which only spoke about the admissibility of certain documents unauthorisedly taken out of the Ministry of Defence.

He said Gandhi sought to distort the Supreme Court order which has not said a word of any illegality in the Rafale deal, adding that the BJP has submitted all the evidence of his comments made after he filed nomination in Amethi.