On Tuesday, the Election Commission of India issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav for the violation of Model Code of Conduct. This notice was issued by the EC for the alleged charges of supporting bribery during an election rally on March 4th in the state. Akhilesh has been ordered by the EC to reply as soon as Tuesday evening regarding the allegations.
At the rally in Gyanpur in Bhadohi district of Uttar Pradesh, addressing the crowd Akhilesh asked the crowd to take money from the opposition candidates but remember the cycle symbol of ‘Samajwadi Party’ while casting the vote. The CM said, “I heard that voters are being given money. My advice to you is to keep the money for yourself and vote for the bicycle.”
On February 2nd, the panel issued a notice to Defence minister Manohar Parrikar after Goa Forward Party and Aam Aadmi Party chief complained against the minister. The EC accused Parikar of deliberately and intentionally asking the public to take the bribe and abetted it during the electoral process. On 29 January in Chimbel, the Defence Minister has said that he has no problem with people accepting money and attending their rallies but in the elections, they should vote for ‘Lotus’ symbol of the BJP party.
Apart from them, the Delhi CM Aravind Kejriwal was also summoned by the EC in January as he ‘deliberately instigated’ the public to accept bribes for voting during a rally in Mapusa, Bardez Taluka and Goa. At the rally, Kejriwal said, “Friends now that time for elections are approaching, someone from BJP and Congress will come and distribute money, in fact, I heard that it has already started. But don’t refuse it. Take the money. It is our money that they have plundered from us for ages. And take new notes, don’t take the old ones. And one more thing, don’t accept Rs. 5000, instead demand Rs. 10,000 citing inflation.”
This issue was brought to notice of the Goa’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of the Election Commission by the Goa’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
