EC orders FIR against BJP's Giriraj Singh in Patna

, April 21: The

on Monday ordered the Patna district administration to lodge an FIR against senior

leader Giriraj Singh for his remark that critics and opponents of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi are "pro-Pakistan" and the neighbouring country is the place for those opposing him.

Additional chief electoral officer R Lakshmanan told media persons here that EC has ordered the the Patna district magistrate to lodge a case against Giriraj Singh for his remark. It is an open violation of model code of conduct, he said.

Lakshmanan said the order was given to Patna administration after 24 hours deadline given to Griraj Singh to submit his explanation failed.

The order was given after Singh failed to meet the deadline to explain his stand

A case for making an inflammatory speech was registered Sunday against Griraj Singh in Jharkhand where he repeated his remarks at an election meeting.

While the BJP distanced itself from Singh over the remark, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said he was ready to run away to Pakistan but he was not ready to stop criticising the BJP's prime ministerial candidate.

IANS