Amit Shah, Mallikarjun Kharge unlikely to face EC action over poll speeches in Karnataka

The Election Commission (EC) is unlikely to recommend action against Union home minister Amit Shah or Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over their comments during the Karnataka election campaign, people aware of the matter have said.

The Congress accused Shah last week of making “hateful and provocative statements”, and the Shah’s Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) filed a counter complaint against Kharge a day later, accusing him of “name-calling” and for making “personal attacks” against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“For now, the matter has been resolved with an advisory. We do not think that there is any need to follow it up further,” said a person aware of details.

The advisory, issued on Tuesday, was not directed at any specific person or instance. It asked parties and star campaigners (which Shah and Kharge are) to exercise caution and restraint, and spoke of “the instances of inappropriate vocabulary and language used during the on-going campaign by persons, in particular, by those invested with the statutory status of star campaigner. Such instances have occasioned various complaints, cross complaints and have also attracted negative media attention.”

The Congress complaint related to Shah, on April 25, saying at a public meeting in Belagavi: “If the Congress comes to power, dynastic politics will be at an all-time high and Karnataka will be afflicted with riots”.

Two days later, Kharge, while speaking at Gadag district said, “Don’t make a mistake. Modi is like a venomous snake. If you say, no, it’s not poisonous, let’s lick it and find out, don’t go lick it. If you lick, you will die.”

The poll watchdog in its advisory cited the model code of conduct clause which says, “political parties and candidates shall refrain from criticism of all aspects of private life, not connected with the public activities of the leaders and workers of the other parties. It also provides that no party or candidate shall indulge in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension.”

HT has learnt that the EC felt that Kharge had already clarified his remark. “Since he said that his comment wasn’t meant for the PM, we feel that there is no need to proceed further,” said the senior official, asking not to be named.

Similarly, they felt that Shah’s remark also didn’t fit the clause of creating “communal tension”.

“We have to take a constant call about the boundaries of political dialogue and we felt that both of these could be countered politically,” said a second official, aware of the details.

The model code of conduct allows the EC to order an FIR under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for speeches they consider problematic. The clauses could be 171 which is a false statement in connection with an election or 499 which is defamation.