Cong complains to EC against PM over 'misuse' of children in Gujarat campaign

A delegation of Congress leaders on Friday met the Election Commission and complained against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the alleged misuse of children in election campaign in Gujarat after he shared a video of a child campaigning for the BJPThe delegation demanded that those responsible for the act should be brought to book as the issue was seriousThe delegation comprised former Union minister Salman Khurshid AICC incharge for Jammu and Kashmir Rajni Patil and AICC secretary Ranjeet RanjanThe Congress alleged that the prime minister shared a video of a girl child campaigning for the BJP and the same was shared by several union ministers which is in violation of lawWe are apprising you of the actions of the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP and Narendra Modi ji which are not only illegal but also in clear violation of your Commission as well as the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights NCPCRAlso Read Mumbai Man held with 267 gm of mephedrone worth Rs 5340 lakhWe hope in the present case you shall take the strictest and immediate action against the offenders in question who are egregiously and without a shred of doubt used a minor child for express campaign purposes This is an actionable claim since it directly violates your own directives We hope you will take swift action against the offenders the party memorandum to the Election Commission EC saidPatil told reporters that on one hand everyone wants that girl children should move forward and be educated on the other hand the prime minister is using them for poll campaignThis is the time for children to play and get educated but it is unfortunate that small girls are being used for election campaign We all strongly oppose this act of the prime minister and demand that the Election Commission take action in the matter We hope the National Commission for Child Rights Protection also take action in the matter as children have their rights and cannot be used for electioneering like this she saidKhurshid said We are very deeply concerned about children being exploited and used for election campaigns in Gujarat We have produced videos that lots of people have seen it has been widely made viralThe Election Commission has very clearly observed several times that children must not be used in campaigns and yet this is happening he saidThe EC promised us that they will examine it very closely scrutinize it and they will take appropriate actions We are sincerely hoping that this will happen not only to make people accountable for what they have done but also to ensure that this will not be repeated in future and the lives of our children is secured the senior Congress leader 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