SG Suryah, the vice president of Tamil Nadu unit of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) written to the Election Commission complaining about DMK president Stalin’s comments against PM Narendra Modi.
Addressing an election rally in Ottapidaram in Tamil Nadu on May 1, Stalin hade said that the firing on Sterlite protesters done in May 2018 was done on the instructions of PM Modi. Stalin was attending a rally for the byelection in the Ottapidaram assembly constituency.
On the On 22nd May 2018, Tamil Nadu police personnel had fired on protesters headed for the DC office, which had left 13 persons dead. The protestor demanding that the Sterlite Copper factory located in Ottapidaram assembly constituency should be shut down, alleging that the factory is causing pollution in the area.
There is no evidence that the central government ordered the state police to fire on the protesters, and the probe into the incident is still ongoing. Therefore, SG Suryah has filed the complaint alleging that that speech by Stalin violates the model code of conduct for elections. The complaint states:
This statement is totally false and defamatory. It amounts to inciting violence and hatred against the Hon’ble Prime Minister and the BJP. Also, such a speech is in direct violation of the following provision of Model of Code of Conduct. Annexure V of the Model Code of Conduct specifically provides for the “Do’s and Dont’s” to be followed by the political parties till the elections are over. Clause (v) of Annexure V reads as follows:
“No criticism of other parties or their workers on basis of unverified allegations or on distortions”
The complaint says that M. K. Stalin has been making such false and baseless statements repeatedly with a view to incite violence and gain political mileage. The BJYM leader has requested the EC that M.K. Stalin should be banned from campaigning for the ongoing by-elections in Tamil Nadu immediately.
The polling for the byelections in Tamil Nadu will be held on 19th May, while the vote for Lok Sabha elections in the state has already taken place on 18th April.
