New Delhi: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asserted that the BJP’s strong reaction to her comments about empty envelopes led them to file a complaint against her. She further emphasized that promises such as women’s reservation, the OBC caste census, and the ERCP made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi are, in her opinion, devoid of substance and are essentially “empty envelopes.”
Priyanka Gandhi on Thursday, in a post on her WhatsApp channel wrote, ” The BJP got really mad at something I said, and they took legal action against me. I mentioned seeing on TV that the Prime Minister visited Devnarayan Ji’s temple with an envelope, and when it was opened, there were only Rs 21 inside. I also think that the work they do shows that the promises, like women’s reservation, the OBC caste census, and ERCP, made by Modi Ji, are all empty because his promises are not fulfilled”
Her remarks came a day after the BJP complained to the Election Commission on Wednesday accusing her of “invoking the personal religious devotion of Prime Minister Modi” to make “false claims” during her poll campaign in Rajasthan and urged it to take action against her.
A BJP delegation, including Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Arjun Ram Meghwal and party leaders Anil Baluni and Om Pathak, submitted a complaint to the EC to take appropriate legal action against the Congress general secretary.
The BJP in its submission to the poll panel said Priyanka Gandhi told a public meeting in Dausa on October 20 that she saw it on TV that when an envelope of donation made by the Prime Minister at a temple was opened, it carried only Rs 21. She added that she saw the news and is not aware if the claim is true or not, the BJP’s complaint read.
She then went on to launch a political attack on the BJP saying that “envelopes” are shown to public by the party but nothing is found in them after the elections. The BJP included a video of her remarks in its complaint.
Rajasthan is set to hold assembly elections for 200 seats on November 25, with the vote count scheduled for December 3. The BJP’s complaint to the Election Commission stated, “Priyanka Gandhi’s statement has breached the fundamental principles of impartial elections by invoking the personal religious beliefs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”
The complaint also pointed out that there’s no evidence to support her statement. The BJP argued that her comments contravened both the Indian Penal Code and the Representation of People Act.
The RP Act speaks against “the publication by a candidate or his agent or by any other person of any statement of fact which is false, and which he either believes to be false or does not believe to be true, in relation to the personal character or conduct of any candidate, or in relation to the candidature, or withdrawal, of any candidate, being a statement reasonably calculated to prejudice the prospects of that candidate’s election”, the BJP said. It added that the IPC also considers making a false statement in connection with an election an offence when the intent is to affect the poll’s result.