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print versionFebruary 24, 2022
Mr. Sushil Chandra
Chief Election Commissioner of India
schandra[at]eci.gov.in
Mr. Rajiv Kumar
Election Commissioner of India
ecrk[at]eci.gov.in
Mr. Anup Chandra Pandey
Election Commissioner of India
ecacp[at]eci.gov.in
Election Commission of India,
Nirvachan Sadan, Ashoka Road,
New Delhi, Delhi 110001.
Dear Sirs,
Sub: In the matter of: The violation of Section 126(1)(b) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 as well as the Model Code of Conduct by Mr. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, in his interview dated 09.02.2022 to Ms. Smita Prakash of ANI; and
In the matter of: The Constitutional responsibility of the Election Commission to uphold the purity of the Electoral Process
We write to you with reference to the captioned subject. Mr. Narendra Modi gave an interview to Ms. Smita Prakash of ANI which was broadcast live across several news channels at 8 p.m. on 09.02.2022, which was less than 24 hours before polls were scheduled to close in the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections on 10.02.2022. The link for the interview, as available on the official YouTube channel of Mr. Modi, is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXzB_Ub9QVk&ab_channel=NarendraModi.
It is pertinent to note that the interview was streamed live by Mr. Modi on his official YouTube Channel and his official Twitter Handle on 09.02.2022 (The twitter broadcast link is: https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1DXxyDLwPdZJM).
During the course of the interview, Mr. Modi made several statements seeking to directly influence polling in Uttar Pradesh on the next day, including inter alia:
- That the Bharatiya Janata Party (“BJP”) would win elections in all 5 states going to polls and that the people would give BJP an opportunity to serve.
- That there was a pro-incumbency wave in favour of state governments helmed by BJP.
- That the schemes initiated by the incumbent BJP Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath had been extremely successful, and had rendered the impossible possible.
- That previous governments of Uttar Pradesh led by non-BJP parties harboured goons, because of which women could not leave their homes in fear. Whereas today, goons beg to be kept in jail because of the uncompromising policies of Yogi Adityanath’s government.
- That Yogi Adityanath’s government successfully organised the Kumbh Mela on an enormous scale, and such were the strides made in law and order that not even incidents of theft were reported from the Mela.
- That today because of Central Schemes such as Ayushman Bharat introduced by the BJP government at the Centre, a resident of Uttar Pradesh can obtain medical treatment in Kerala.
The above statements, and many other statements of similar hue during the interview, clearly indicate an attempt on the part of Mr. Modi to induce voters to vote for the incumbent BJP government in Uttar Pradesh on inter alia 10.02.2022 by means of an interview broadcast less than 24 hours before close of polls. This constitutes a clear violation of Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 which states as under:
“126. Prohibition of public meetings during period of forty-eight hours ending with hour fixed for conclusion of poll.—(1) No person shall—
(a) convene, hold, attend, join or address any public meeting or procession in connection with an election; or
(b) display to the public any election matter by means of cinematograph, television or other similar apparatus; or
(c) propagate any election matter to the public by holding, or by arranging the holding of, any musical concert or any theatrical performance or any other entertainment or amusement with a view to attracting the members of the public thereto,
in any polling area during the period of forty-eight hours ending with the hour fixed for the conclusion of the poll for any election in that polling area.
(2) Any person who contravenes the provisions of sub-section (1) shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.
(3) In this section, the expression “election matter” means any matter intended or calculated to influence or affect the result of election ”
(emphasis supplied)
Further, the statements made during the interview also constitute a violation of the Model Code of Conduct as well. There has been an attempt to project opposition parties as mafia-raj/goondas without any verifiable evidence. There has also been an attempt to induce voters on the basis of promises of beneficial central/state schemes. Moreover, the official YouTube Channel of Prime Minister’s Office titled “PMO India” was misused by Mr. Modi to livestream this interview. In this respect, your kind attention is drawn to the following provisions of the Model Code of Conduct:
“I. General Conduct
...
3. Criticism of other political parties, when made, shall be confined to their policies and programme, past record and work. Parties and Candidates shall refrain from criticism of all aspects of private life, not connected with the public activities of the leaders or workers of other parties. Criticism of other parties or their workers based on unverified allegations or distortion shall be avoided.
VII. Party in Power
The party in power whether at the Centre or in the State or States concerned, shall ensure that no cause is given for any complaint that it has used its official position for the purposes of its election campaign and in particular —
...
4. Issue of advertisement at the cost of public exchequer in the newspapers and other media and the misuse of official mass media during the election period for partisan coverage of political news and publicity regarding achievements with a view to furthering the prospects of the party in power shall be scrupulously avoided.
...
6. From the time elections are announced by Commission, Ministers and other authorities shall not —
(a) announce any financial grants in any form or promises thereof; or
(b) (except civil servants) lay foundation stones etc. of projects or schemes of any kind; or
(c) make any promise of construction of roads, provision of drinking water facilities etc.; or
(d) make any ad-hoc appointments in Government, Public Undertakings etc. which may have the effect of influencing the voters in favor of the party in power.
Note : The Commission shall announce the date of any election which shall be a date ordinarily not more than three weeks prior to the date on which the notification is likely to be issued in respect of such elections.”
(emphasis supplied)
Recent violations of similar nature committed by politicians of other political parties have not been countenanced by the Election Commission. For example -
- On 19.02.2022, the Election Commission ordered the registration of FIR against Arvind Kejriwal (the National Convener of Aam Aadmi Party) because his party’s state unit uploaded an unapproved video on social media.
- On the same day, The Election Commission ordered the registration of an FIR against Sukhbir Singh Badal (President of Shiromani Akali Dal) for circulating a video on his Facebook page during the 48 hours silent period in which he can be seen appealing to the people of Punjab to vote for his party. (https://indianexpress.com/elections/punjab-elections-ec-fir-against-aap-arvind-kejriwal-poll-code-violation-7781370/)
As a matter of Fact, the Election Commission has been swift in proceeding against Mr. Modi when on 30.04.2014 he held a press conference near a polling booth in Gujarat right after casting his vote and also displayed his party symbol prominently. The Election Commission ordered an FIR against him.
It is imperative that you, once again, consider the initiation of appropriate action under the law against Mr. Narendra Modi for violating Section 126(1) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, as well as the Model Code of Conduct. Politicians and public functionaries must not be permitted to commit such gross violation of electoral laws and rules under the garb of participating in a live and/or unscripted television interview.
We would like to draw your attention to the Constitutional responsibility of the Election Commission of India to ensure and uphold the purity of the electoral process.
You are requested to communicate your decision on the present complaint, whatever it may be, to the undersigned at your earliest convenience.
A SIGNED CONFIRMATION COPY of this letter has been sent by courier today, and a MS Word document version is also attached with this email for ease of reading.
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
Jagdeep S. Chhokar, Former Professor, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; Advocate, Supreme Court of India
A-278 New Friends Colony, New Delhi-110025
Suhas Borker, Founder, Convener, Working Group on Alternative Strategies
“Mohanalaya”, L-19 Corner Bungalow, South Extension Part 2, New Delhi-110049
Anil Nauriya, Advocate, Supreme Court of India
A-121 New Friends Colony, New Delhi-10025
Partha Sen, Former Professor, Delhi School of Economics
50-A, Friends Colony East, New Delhi-110065
