BJP demands EC to take strong action against Congress

NEW DELHI: After the arrest of Congress candidate from Saharanpur Imran Masood for his hate speech, BJP today appealed to Election Commission to take strong action against Congress for "repeatedly" violating model code of conduct.

Besides seeking action against Congress, BJP has also sought EC's intervention for providing adequate protection to its senior leaders during election campaigning.

The BJP delegation including party vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, general secretary J P Nadda and spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman met the EC and drew its attention to the inflammatory speech made by Masood in which he allegedly threatened to "chop" Narendra Modi "into pieces".

"This is not the first time Congress is indulging in such practices violating model code of conduct. There are more than two dozens violations committed by the Congress," Naqvi said after meeting the EC here.

Accusing Congress of "Taliban mentality", he said, "the inflamatory speech at Saharanpur by Masood has vitiated atmosphere not only in UP but in the entire country. This is a sign of Taliban mentality and frustration of the Congress."

He alleged that this was a pre-planned and concerted effort by Congress as its leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had been violating model code of conduct.

So we have demanded suitable and strong action against Congress as per the law, he said.

BJP also raised the issue of security concern for its senior leaders.

"Intelligence and other agencies have repeatedly said that some forces are trying to disrupt the atmosphere during the election. We expressed our concern about the security for our senior leaders. We asked EC to issue advisories to all states to take adequate security for our senior leaders," Naqvi said.