Faizabad, May 5 – A day after Narendra Modi dared the Election Commission to take action against him, the poll plan has taken note: this time of the BJP using a poster of Lord Ram for its prime ministerial candidate’s rally in Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh.
After Modi was seen on Monday speaking from a dais with the deity’s and a temple’s poster in the background, the Election Commission has said he has violated the model code of conduct and sought footage of the public meeting.
The Election Commission has sought a report from Faizabad district magistrate on Modi’s speech and stage backdrop, said UP Chief Electoral Officer Umesh Sinha, reported PTI.
The poll panel said candidates cannot seek votes in the name of religion.
Modi, in his rally, had said this: “From Lord Ram’s land I assure you that I will keep fighting corruption all my life. Send lotuses from the land of Lord Ram.”
The Gujarat chief minister also said that even Mahatma Gandhi espoused the cause of Ram Rajya.
Faizabad has been the seat of the Ram temple movement of the ’90s that spurred support for the BJP. Lallu Singh is the BJP candidate from the temple town and is pitted against the Congress’s state president Nirmal Khatri, who is a sitting MP, reported IANS.
In the staggered Lok Sabha polls, Faizabad goes to polls May 7.
-India Today
