Congress accuses PM Modi of raking up religious issues

NEW DELHI: The AICC on Monday accused the PM of raking up issues with deliberate religious overtones during his campaign in UP.

The party demanded that the EC issue notice to the PM for “campaigning on communal lines”, but appeared dithering till late evening on exercising the option of lodging a formal complaint with the poll watchdog, even though the AICC had unofficially spread the word that a party delegation would visit the EC office on Monday itself.

AICC spokesman Anand Sharma objected to Modi’s campaign speech in Fatehpur on Sunday during which he made loaded references to “burial ground” and “cremation ground “and Holi and Eid festivals”. “Faced with the prospect of sure defeat in UP, PM Modi has now started campaigning on communal lines...

The communal theme of PM’s campaign is against the spirit of the Constitution and the oath he has taken… We demand the Election Commission issue notice to the PM for indulging in campaign which is against the norms and rules set by the EC,” Sharma said.

Asked whether the party will lodge a formal complaint against the PM with the EC, Sharma said: “We expect the EC to exercise its Constitutionally-empowered job and issue notice to the PM.”