Congress writes to EC, demands FIR against Modi

Congress alleged that Modi held a public rally in Haridwar on February 10 'without requisite permission'.

New Delhi, Feb 27: The Congress on Monday wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Syed Nasim Ahmad Zaidi, urging him to get an FIR registered against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for alleged violation of the model code of conduct.

In a three-page letter to the CEC, the party said that during the election campaign in Uttarakhand, Modi held a public rally in Haridwar on February 10 'without requisite permission' of the Election Commission and thus violated the model code.

It said that on bringing it to the notice of the Chief Election Officer of Uttarakhand and other authorities, a show-cause notice was issued, and since the Bharatiya Janata Party failed to convince the EC through its reply, it filed an FIR against the Haridwar Unit of the BJP.

"In this connection, we would like to submit that a breach of model code of conduct was committed by Modi himself, amongst others. An FIR should be filed against the perpetrator himself, amongst others, who committed the breach of model code," the party said.

The letter also reminded the EC that an FIR was filed by the commission against Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, as a road show the party had organised in the state on February 12 had got delayed a little.

"In this context, we would like to submit that there should not be two yardsticks in filing of FIR. If Election Commission has filed an FIR against the Congress vice president and thechief minister of the state merely on the ground of delay in concluding the road show, which was inadvertent otherwise, and for which prior permission was already taken from the appropriate authority, similarly FIR should also be filed against Narendra Modi, J.P. Nadda, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Madan Kaushik and other BJP leaders, who addressed/participated in the election rally on 10.02.2017 for breach of model code of conduct," it said.

IANS