In the said complaint, CJP pointed out that leading political parties, such as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), and the Shinde faction of Shiv Sena, placed full-page advertisements in prominent newspapers such as The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Mid-Day, and Maharashtra Times. These advertisements, published during the silence period, are seen as attempts to influence voter sentiment and solicit votes, a direct breach of electoral ethics and established legal guidelines.

Undermining Electoral Integrity

CJP emphasised that the silence period is a critical safeguard designed to ensure that voters have an impartial environment to make informed decisions, free from last-minute persuasion. By publishing political propaganda during this period, CJP contends, political parties and media outlets have undermined this democratic safeguard, distorted the electoral playing field, and eroded public trust in the electoral process. The complaint elaborates on the potential long-term repercussions of such violations. It warns that these actions set a dangerous precedent, enabling wealthier political parties to leverage financial muscle for electoral advantage, further marginalising independent candidates and smaller parties.

Legal and ethical breaches

CJP has drawn attention to several legal and ethical frameworks that these actions contravene:

• Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951: Prohibits election propaganda during the 48-hour silence period. While print media is not explicitly mentioned, CJP argues that the intent of the law is clearly violated through such advertisements.
• Press Council of India (PCI) guidelines: These guidelines mandate neutrality in election reporting and prohibit paid news, especially during the silence period.
• Model Code of Conduct: Though not legally binding, the Code discourages indirect campaigning and other actions that influence voters during the restricted period.
• Constitutional principles: By compromising the level playing field, the advertisements allegedly violate Article 324 of the Constitution, which mandates free and fair elections.

Demands for action

In its submission, CJP has called on the Maharashtra State Election Commission to take decisive action, including:

1. Investigating the advertisements to determine if they qualify as paid news or unauthorised election propaganda.
2. Penalising political parties and media outlets responsible for the violations.
3. Issuing public clarifications and warnings to reinforce the sanctity of the silence period.
4. Strengthening surveillance mechanisms to prevent further breaches.

Preserving democracy

CJP underscored the critical role of the Election Commission in safeguarding democracy. The organisation has urged for strict enforcement of electoral laws, noting that failure to act decisively risks normalising unethical practices, diminishing public trust, and weakening the democratic framework. The complaint is a reminder of the need for vigilance in ensuring that elections remain free, fair, and reflective of the people’s informed choice, untainted by manipulative tactics or undue influence.

The complete complaint may be read here:

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The post CJP files complaint against BJP, MNS, and Shinde-Led Shiv Sena alleging silence period breach during Maharashtra polls appeared first on SabrangIndia.

As the Model Code of Conduct came into force on 16 March, authorities, especially, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has been flooded with complaints regarding violations of the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC)[1], the Representation of the People Act, 1951[2], and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Bangalore based non-profit organisation Law and Policy Research Institute (LAPRI) has filed 37 such complaints till May 12 with the Election Commission of India (ECI) and in some cases it has even tagged police authorities, asking the authorities to take action against the reported violations. No action has been taken in 19 of these complaints, with FIR registered in 5 cases.

Four complaints each has been filed against Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and Navneet Rana, with three each against Himanta Biswa Sharma and BJP Karnataka, and two each against Yogi Adityanath and Raja Singh.

The complaints are filed for violation various provisions relating to hate speech, disinformation, and appeal to religion for the purpose of seeking votes. Disinclination to act against these complaints concerning hate speech, disinformation campaign, and religious appeals have raised serious concerns about the conduct of ECI. Additionally, in the absence of any substantive action by the poll body, as revealed from the LAPRI data, such vicious speeches and activities continue unabated, unduly affecting the level playing field and benefitting the ruling regime.

Section 123 (3) of the RPA considers it to be a corrupt practice if a candidate or his agent asks a voter “to vote or refrain from voting for any person on the ground of his religion, race, caste, community or language or the use of, or appeal to religious symbols or the use of, or appeal to, national symbols, such as the national flag or the national emblem…”

Section 123 (3A) of the RPA notes that corrupt practice would involve “The promotion of, or attempt to promote, feelings of enmity or hatred between different classes of the citizens of India on grounds of religion, race, caste, community, or language, by a candidate or his agent or any other person with the consent of a candidate or his election agent for the furtherance of the prospects of the election of that candidate or for prejudicially affecting the election of any candidate.”

Section 125 of the RPA reads that “Any person who in connection with an election under this Act promotes or attempts to promote on grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language, feelings of enmity or hatred, between different classes of the citizens of India shall he punishable, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.”

A detailed LAPRI report can be found here:

[1] https://www.eci.gov.in/mcc/

[2] https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/2096/5/a1951-43.pdf

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The post LAPRI files 37 complaints to authorities as on 12 May for violations of MCC and RPA appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh 

A case of alleged violation has emerged from Uttar Pradesh where a voter in the state’s Lakhimpur Kheri claimed that she cast her vote for the Samajwadi Party, however the slip that came printed out of the VVPAT was for the BJP and not the SP. Interestingly, shortly after her initial statement a video emerged of her in police presence saying that she had no issue with the voting process.

A woman voter in #UttarPradesh‘s #LakhimpurKheri alleged she voted for #SamajwadiParty but #BJP slip was issued from the VVPAT.#LokSabhaElections2024 #GrowASpineOrResign pic.twitter.com/FsVdWkwfGE

— Hate Detector (@HateDetectors) May 13, 2024

Baramati, Maharashtra

MP Supriya Sule, Working President  of the Nationalist Congress Part – Sharad Pawar faction took to X to express concern about a troubling incident after polling took place in the Baramati Lok Sabha Constituency. According to her,  the CCTV at the Godawan location where the EVMs are stored was switched off for 45 minutes.  She has stated that the situation demands urgent attention from the Election Commission,  who have so far not responded to what she called a major lapse and security issue.

बारामती लोकसभा मतदारसंघाचे मतदान पार पडल्यानंतर त्या इव्हिएम ज्या गोडावूनमध्ये ठेवल्या आहेत, तेथील सीसीटिव्ही आज सकाळी ४५ मिनिटे बंद पडले होते. इव्हिएमसारखी अतिशय महत्वाची गोष्ट जेथे ठेवलेली आहे, तेथील सीसीटिव्ही बंद पडणे ही बाब संशयास्पद आहे. तसेच हा खुप मोठा हलगर्जीपणा देखील… pic.twitter.com/8HmqR2icHn

— Supriya Sule (@supriya_sule) May 13, 2024

Laxmikant Khabia of the NCP has thus far filed a complaint. Meanwhile, the Pune police has stated that the CCTV footage is ‘alright’, and has some ‘technical problems.’

“CCTV footage is alright. Due to some technical problems, they were not on for some time, but that problem has been sorted out and they have started working again. 24 hours a day, one officer and four staff members are appointed for CCTV footage checking. Additionally, diaries of… pic.twitter.com/kYzpFitrKk

— Punekar News (@punekarnews) May 13, 2024

Singhbhum, Jharkhand

Tribal villagers in Jharkhand  reportedly received vote receipts featuring photographs of Prime Minister Modi and the lotus symbol, which is BJP’s symbol. It also featured the slogan ‘Ap ki baar, 400 paar’.

According to a video posted by Hate Detectors on the social media site X, formerly Twitter.

In #Jharkhand‘s #Singhbhum constituency, voters are allegedly being given the vote receipt having photos of #PMModi and Lotus. It also has ‘Ap ki baar, 400 paar’ written.#LokSabhaElections2024 #GrowASpineOrResign pic.twitter.com/ZhJPLlm7nL

— Hate Detector (@HateDetectors) May 13, 2024

Hyderabad, Telangana

Madhavi Latha, BJP candidate from Hyderabad, was reportedly witnessed asking women to take off their veil and identify themselves at a polling booth in the city on May 13.Madhavi Latha is contesting on the Hyderabad seat in Telangana against MP Asaduddin Owaisi of the AIMIM, who has been MP since 2004, and BRS’ Gaddam Srinivas Yadav.

She was seen trying to verify identities of the Muslim women sitting at the polling booth, by asking their identification cards and asking them to lift their veils. In the video of the incident, the police can be seen watching the incident unfold.

As per reports, an FIR has been filed against Latha at the  Malakpet Police Station under sections 171C, 186, 505(1)(c) of IPC and Section 132 of the Representation of the People Act.

BJP’s #Hyderabad MP candidate Madhavi Latha ( @Kompella_MLatha ) was seen verifying voters IDs of #Muslim womens voters during #LokSabhaElection2024.

A case is registered in Malakpet Police Station against Madhavi Latha under sections 171C, 186, 505(1)(c) of IPC and Section 132… pic.twitter.com/mu1AGK5dAs

— Mohd Dastagir Ahmed (@Dastagir_Hyd) May 13, 2024

Nazamabad, Telangana

Similarly, BJP’s candidate Dharmapuri Aravind was seen asking Muslim women who had come for polling why they were wearing the Burqa, saying ““How would we know if she is a voter or not? Are you just time passing here or doing your duty,”. The MP has been in the news formerly for stating that the word ‘secular’ should be struck off from the constitution .

Bharatiya Janata Party candidate for Lok Sabha Nizamabad constituency Arvind Dharmapuri questions election officers why Muslim women wearing burqa are allowed to cast vote. “How would we know if she is a voter or not? Are you just time passing here or doing your duty,” he is… pic.twitter.com/SRaWRlJO81

— The Siasat Daily (@TheSiasatDaily) May 13, 2024

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The post Reports of poll guidelines breached as India completes fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Besides, as highlighted in the sixth and previous report, the IPME stated that the ECI made an excessive delay in releasing the voter turnout data for the first two phases of voting. Opposition leaders, a former Chief Election Commissioner, and civil society continue to raise questions about this delay and the fact that data related to number of votes polled per constituency has not been released. The ECI has not responded to these accusations. This casts aspersions over the transparency of the electoral process, which is essential for a free and fair election.

This is the seventh of the weekly catalogue of concerns about the integrity of 2024 general election (GE). As the Independent Panel for Monitoring Indian Elections, 2024, they have been observing the 2024 GE process and publishing our findings, periodically. The bulletin is meant to raise emergent concerns, directly with the Election Commission of India (ECI), in the hope that these are addressed speedily, also as a record of our concerns.

Details are below:

1.    Continued appeals to religious polarisation for the purpose of seeking votes

The concerning trend of politicians resorting to religious appeals to seek votes continues unabated, in violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The Election Commission of India (ECI) has failed at ensuring this does not happen and that the MCC is upheld.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly made multiple communal remarks in his election speeches, targeting the entire Muslim community, and continues to use anti-Muslim dog-whistle frequently in his campaign speeches, including mention of Pakistan, and false allegations that the Congress plans to take reservations from the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and give it to In a speech he further asked to voters to decide between “Ram Rajya” and “vote jihad”. Despite multiple complaints lodged with the Election Commission of India (ECI) against PM Modi’s hate speeches, there is no news of ECI having acted against him per rules under Representation of People’s (RPA) Act and the Model Code Conduct (MCC).

• Karnataka BJP’s official social media account posted a video demonising Muslims, triggering several complaints being lodged with the ECI, by opposition parties, among Rather than acting against the BJP, under RPA Act and MCC, ECI has written to X to take down the anti-Muslim video, but only after voting had concluded in Karnataka.

• BJP Member of Parliament (MP) Arvind Dharmapuri shared a hateful video on his X account, which vilified Muslims and repeated the allegation that the Congress plans to take existing reservations away and give it to Muslims.

• BJP MP Navneet Rana raised religious slogans in an election rally, saying those who wanted to live in India must say “Jai Shri Ram” and the others could go to Pakistan, and asked for votes in the name of Lord Ram.

• Maria Alam of the Samajwadi Party in an election speech in Uttar Pradesh called on Muslims to remove the current government by “vote jihad”.

2.    Spreading of misinformation in election campaigning

• PM Modi, in addition to repeatedly alleging that the Congress wants to give reservations on purely religious basis, has also stated multiple times that the Congress wants to impose a 55% inheritance tax if voted to power, whereas nothing of the sort has been mentioned in the opposition’s manifesto or speeches.

• A doctored video of Home Minister Amit Shah claiming that the BJP government will end reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs if voted to power was shared on social media. A case was filed against Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, whose lawyer has denied the charge that Reddy shared this video.

3.    Suppression of voter choice

• Following reports from Surat and Indore where opposition candidates were either rejected or withdrew, opposition candidates from Gandhinagar – where Amit Shah is contesting from the BJP – have alleged intimidation and pressure to withdraw by local BJP politicians and the state Similar pressure have been reported from Indore in Madhya Pradesh. Such pressures by the ruling party, if true, undermines the very act of democratic elections.

• Media reports have shown that names of around 700 fishermen, mostly Muslims, whose homes in Gandhvi and Navadra villages of Gujarat were demolished last year, have been removed from the voter list, thereby disenfranchising them.

4.    Questions over release of voter turnout data by the ECI

As highlighted in our previous report, the ECI made an excessive delay in releasing the voter turnout data for the first two phases of voting. Opposition leaders, a former Chief Election Commissioner, and civil society continue to raise questions about this delay and the fact that data related to number of votes polled per constituency has not been released. The ECI has not responded to these accusations. This casts aspersions over the transparency of the electoral process, which is essential for a free and fair election.

5.    Civil society prevented from interacting with foreign election observers

The panel also takes serious note of reports of election authorities not allowing civil society groups to interact with members of foreign election management bodies / political parties that seem to be observing general election 2024. There have been news circulating for sometime, of BJP inviting political parties from overseas to observe Lok Sabha elections. The ECI in its press note of 7 May 2024 reported “during phase 3, 75 international delegates from 23 countries visited many polling stations in 6 states to witness the poll process”, going on to claim that the observers “commend(ed) India’s electoral processes”. It is not clear if the delegates that the ECI was reporting on were the same as those that the BJP had invited. If so, this itself is problematic. What is further concerning is that domestic election monitoring groups who tried to meet with the foreign observers, to share their insights, were reportedly prevented from doing so. This does not bode well for transparency and electoral integrity.

The Independent Panel for Monitoring Indian Elections – 2024 reports can be read here: https://indiaelectionmonitor.org/

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The post Series of poll violations by ruling BJP. Inaction by ECI says Independent Panel appeared first on SabrangIndia.

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.

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