EC seeks report from Katihar DM over Navjot Singh Sidhu's remarks

New Delhi, Apr 16: The Election Commission on Tuesday has sought a report from the District Magistrate of Katihar over Congress MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu's remarks during a rally in which he had appealed to the Muslim voters to vote as a bloc against the BJP.

The actor-turned-politician had made a vote appeal on religious lines while addressing a rally in Bihar's Katihar.

Despite the Election Commission's model code of conduct in place, politicians continue to polarise votes and latest example is Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu. Sidhu appealed to the muslim voters to vote for the Congress. "My muslim brothers and sisters, you must vote for the Congress. If you show solidarity, nobody can defeat your candidate. You are not a minority but a majority," he said.

The development comes after the EC took action against Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, BSP chief Mayawati and BJP leader Maneka Gandhi for seeking votes on communal lines and violating the model code of conduct. On Monday, the poll panel barred Adityanath from campaigning for three days, while Mayawati was awarded a similar ban for two days.

At a recent rally in Deoband, Mayawati had asked Muslim voters not to "split" their votes between Congress and her BSP-SP alliance in Uttar Pradesh. Yogi, on the other hand, had commented that Congress, BSP, and SP had "Ali", BJP had the support of "Bajrangbali".

Later, the EC also imposed a two-day ban on Union Minister Maneka Gandhi, while also imposing a ban on three days on Samajwadi Party's Azam Khan after he made objectionable comments against BJP candidate Jaya Prada.