In what is being seen as a violation of the Election Model Code of Conduct, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the media outside his polling booth. Modi who cast his vote at the Nishan High School in the Ranip area of Ahmedabad city, addressed media from his open top vehicle after stepping out of the polling booth.
Image Courtesy: Reuters
He said, “Indian democracy presents an example before the world. While on the one hand, an IED is the weapon of terrorists, on the other, the voter ID [identity] is the weapon and power of democracy. I am confident that the power of voter ID is much more than the IED and we should understand the importance of the voter ID card and come out to vote in large numbers.”
Urging people to come out and vote in large numbers Modi said, “By voting, I feel the same sense of purity that one gets after taking bath at the Kumbh mela.”
According to the Election Model Code of Conduct, “All parties and candidates shall avoid scrupulously all activities which are “corrupt practices” and offences under the election law, such as bribing of voters, intimidation of voters, impersonation of voters, canvassing within 100 meters of polling stations, holding public meetings during the period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for the close of the poll, and the transport and conveyance of voters to and from polling station.”
Earlier in the day Modi had a photo-op when he went to seek his mother’s blessings. 98 year old Heerbai reportedly gave him a shawl, a coconut and some sweets. He also interacted with children in the neighbourhood and allowed them to take selfies with him.
He had also tweeted before voting saying, “Urging all those voting in today’s Third Phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to do so in record numbers. Your vote is precious and will shape the direction our nation takes in the years to come. I’ll be voting in Ahmedabad in a short while from now.”
The Congress has now decided to move EC over Modi’s impunity in flouting the code of conduct. This is not Modi’s first gaffe. In 2014, he had taken a selfie with a paper cut out of his party symbol, a lotus flower. This had earned him the Election Commission’s ire.
But in the run up to the current election there have been other seemingly deliberate efforts to disregard provisions of the code of conduct. These range from NaMo TV that by Amit Malviya’s own admission is run by the BJP IT cell and is allegedly operating without a licence on a mere technicality, to the Modi biopic whose release was postponed till after the elections, to the EC demanding that Eros Now stop streaming its web series about Modi on their app, to Chowkidaar branding appearing on tea cups on the Shatabdi express, to Modi’s image being printed on train tickets and boarding passes.