Dissent in EC shows fear of Modi-Shah finally weakening: Chidambaram

The dissenting view given by one of the two election commissioners in the clean chit given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over two of his campaign speeches in Maharashtra means that "the fear of Modi-Shah" is finally weakening, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said on Saturday.

One of the election commissioners, according to sources, gave a dissenting view in the Election Commission's (EC) decision to give a clean chit to Modi as regards his speech at Wardha on April 1, where he attacked Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for contesting from the minority-dominated Wayanad seat in Kerala, and his appeal to first-time voters by invoking the Balakot airstrike and the CRPF jawans killed in the Pulwama terror attack in Latur on April 9.

"With one member of the EC finding fault with Modi-Shah speeches and dissenting from the other two, the Election Commission is finally showing some signs of life!," Chidambaram said in a series of tweets.

"Closer to May 6, 12 and 19, the Election Commission may actually reprimand Mr Modi and Mr Shah. That means the fear of Modi-Shah is finally weakening. I hope other institutions and the media will also shed the fear of Modi-Shah and assert their independence," the former Union finance minister said.

The "full commission", which takes such decisions, comprises Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora and fellow election commissioners Ashok Lavasa and Sushil Chandra.