PM Modi 'violating' model code by taking out roadshow during polling: Congress

The Congress on Monday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of violating the model code by taking out a roadshow before casting his vote in the second phase of polling in Gujarat and alleged that the Election Commission is afraid and is under pressure not to act against himCongress head of media and publicity Pawan Khera said the Congress has seen that over the last several weeks inaction on the part of the Election Commission is evident from the watchdog of our democracy the watchdog of our electionsWe have been making representations to the Election Commission at various levels Every second or third day we have made some representations or the other in Gujarat in Delhi but I am afraid the Election Commission looks like it is willingly under pressure he told reportersThe Congress leader said the party is deliberating on taking necessary legal measures on the issue Khera said the value of the vote of the prime minister or that of any common man is the same But how is it that the PM holds a roadshow fo 25 hours when he goes to vote he saidAlso Read Make every Indian part of G20 presidency glory PM Modi tells BJP office bearersWhat are the compulsions of the Election Commission that it cannot see any violations by the prime minister he saidHe said in the second and the last round of polling in Gujarat Prime Minister Modi while voting in Ahmedabad decided to do a roadshow of two and half hours which was covered live by all channels free of costIs this not an advertisement Shouldnt you be charging the BJP why you are doing it for free he askedWe will take necessary steps and prevail upon the Election Commission of India through whatever means possible legal means possible to ensure that such publicity comes under the purview of election expenditure of the party which undertakes this publicity which forces you to run these roadshows live especially when the election is under way he also saidThe Congress leader also alleged that its tribal candidate and sitting MLA of Danta in Gujarat Kantibhai Kharadi wrote to the Election Commission seeking additional security as he apprehended a threat to his lifeBy the evening he was attacked by 24 people who he alleged were goons of the BJP and he had to take cover of the forest at night where we finally rescued him at 233 amThe Election Commission did not pay timely attention to his pleas We have also shared time and again visuals of the BJP distributing liquor in a state where there is a prohibition openly shamelessly and distributing liquor in their vehicles with BJP logos on the vehicles They are not afraid he claimed questioning the ECs silence on such violationsKhera alleged that the EC has not acted on the Congress complaints so far on several violations made against the BJP in GujaratThe government the party the administration the election machinery everything is rolled into one in Gujarat The logo of Gujarat government should now be Kamal Lotus Thats the situation of governance in Gujarat thats the situation of the election machinery in Gujarat We beseech upon you we request you to please join hands with us in saving democracy Democracy will be a thing of the past if we dont act today he saidThe BJP is continuously violating the model code but the EC is not acting against them and has turned silent It seems the EC is afraid of taking action he also saidThe second phase of polling in Gujarat was held on Monday and the results will be out on December 8This 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