EC clears Shah of Wayanad-Pak remark but the decision was not unanimous

New Delhi, May 04: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president, Amit Shah were cleared in four complaints of alleged poll code violation by the Election Commission of India.

Of the four decisions, one was not unanimous and there was disagreement within the poll panel. The complaint related to Amit Shah's speech in Nagpur on April 9 where he likened Wayanad to Pakistan. This is the second seat on which Congress president, Rahul Gandhi is contesting the elections.

The final decision on this complaint was taken by a 2:1 majority. Shah had said Rahul baba for the sake of an alliance had gone to such a seat in Kerala, where when a procession is taken you cannot make out if it is India or a Pakistan procession. He made the comment in an apparent reference to the Indian Union Muslim League flags that were seen during the procession.

In its reply to Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, the EC said that the matter has been examined in detail in accordance with the extant advisories, provisions of the Model Code of Conduct and after examination of complete transcript of speech of six pages sent by DEO, Nagpur, Commission is of the view that in this matter no such violation of MCC or ECI's instructions is made out.