EC to issue show cause notices to Sonia, Digvijay

New Delhi, Dec 9: The Election Commission (EC) today decided to issue show cause notices to Congress President Sonia Gandhi and senior party leader Digvijay Singh for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) during their election campaigns in Gujarat.

The commission, in a hurriedly convened meeting here before leaving for Gujarat, decided to issue the notices, EC sources said. ''This is being done to convey to all political parties and the masses that the EC is not working in a partial manner,'' the sources added.

Earlier, the EC had directed the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Gujarat to furnish the speeches of Ms Gandhi and Mr Singh in which the two leaders had reportedly described Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as ''Maut ka Saudagar'' (merchant of death) during their election campaigns in the state.

The EC had not yet taken any decision on Mr Modi's case as it would take some more time to study his reply, the sources added.

UNI