HC notice on 'rate card' ads: Cong accuses poll panel of bias, seeks more time to submit detailed response

The Congress has accused the Election Commission of bias over its notice on the partys corruption rate card advertisements targeting the BJP government in Karnataka and said its leaders are held to a standard that seems reserved only for the OppositionDespite the Congress bringing to the ECs notice on numerous occasions the brazen and repeated violations of electoral guidelines by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders the commission has not issued one notice or condemnation the Congress said on SundayIn the Congress preliminary response party leader and lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi also said the 24hour window provided by the EC for responding to the notice was insufficient with the Karnataka assembly poll campaign drawing to a closeThe EC had on Saturday issued a notice to the Karnataka Congress over its corruption rate card advertisements published in newspapers in the runup to the May 10 state polls and sought empirical evidence to prove its allegations by Sunday eveningThe notice was issued following a complaint lodged by the BJPThe Congress had released a set of posters and advertisements listing corruption rates in the state between 2019 and 2023 while terming the BJP government a trouble enginethe actions of the Commission are prima facie violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution which provide a fundamental guarantee against arbitrariness in administrative action as well as against bias official acts of mala fide violations of natural justice and which provide the most vital guarantee of equality the Congress saidit is clear that the Indian National Congress is being subject to unfair and unequal treatment by the Commission Leaders of the INC are held to a standard that seems to be reserved only for the opposition They are asked to explain themselves for the slightest perceived offence and their advertisements are flagged for content that is far tamer than the ones allowed for the BJP it saidAlso readKarnataka polls Priyanka Gandhi holds roadshow in Bengaluru on last day of campaigningThe EC can never allow itself to be seen as an organisation that turns a Nelsonial blind eye to egregious violations by the ruling party it saidThis proactive zeal seems to be reserved solely for the Opposition as we have through numerous detailed documented and numbered representations sought to bring to the Commissions attention the brazen shocking egregious heinous and repeated violations of almost every single electoral guideline by Shri Narendra Modi Shri Amit Shah Shri J P Nadda Shri Adityanath as well as other BJP leaders it saidYet not one show cause notice has been issued for these deliberate violations Forget pursuing criminal proceedings not one condemnation or censure has been issued to name and shame these individuals by the Commission it addedThe Congress said this might be the first time in history that the EC has summoned a national party to provide evidence in support of a political advertisementThe Election Commission with its vast powers of superintendence could have chosen to investigate the allegations evidence of which is available in the public domain but instead it has chosen to go after the party that is shedding light on the rampant corruption plaguing the people of the state it saidIt said BJP MLA Yatnal who publicly spoke about the chief ministers post being sold for Rs 2500 crore has been renominated as a candidate by the BJP and several party legislators have been pointing out through public statements the issue of rampant corruption in the Basavaraj Bommailed Karnataka government the Congress saidEven the Contractors Association of Karnataka comprising 50000 contractors has publicly spoken about the 40 per cent commission being demanded by the Bommai government and even named a number of BJP legislators it saidThe opposition party however pointed out that its political advertisement under scrutiny has no mention of the BJP nor does it name any person or candidate belonging to the said partyThe Congress said further that the time provided by the EC for filing its response was insufficient while we are submitting this preliminary response out of our sheer regard for the constitutional role of the ECI we reserve both the right to be heard in person as well as the right to submit additional documents and pleadings as there are barely 24 hours left for the close of campaigning it saidThe Indian National Congress being a responsible national political party will also be pleased to collate the said evidence for you and present them provided that we are given reasonable time and an inperson hearing it saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever