EC censures BJP’s Dilip Ghosh and Congress’ Supriya Shrinate | India News
NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Monday strongly censured BJP MP Dilip Ghosh and Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate over their derogatory remarks against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and actress and BJP candidate from Mandi Kangna Ranaut respectively.
Ruling that the impugned statements by the two politicians were “low-level personal attacks” and thus in violation of the model code of conduct, the poll body, in separate orders, warned them to be more careful with their public utterances till the model code remains in force.Sources said Ghosh’s and Shrinate’s election-related communications will henceforth be “especially and additionally monitored” by the Commission for any derogatory content.
Specifically condemning the disrespectful social media post made from Shrinate’s handle against Ranaut, EC said the former being chairperson of the Congress’s social media and digital platform at national level, “is expected to know sensitivities of wider communication”.
EC on Monday also marked to the party chiefs a copy of its warning notice to Ghosh and Shrinate. The purpose, sources said, is to get the party heads to sensitise their functionaries to be careful while communicating in the public domain and refrain from making any derogatory comments or violating MCC guidelines.
Emphasising that the Constitution of India all institutions of the country have constantly pursued the ideas and ideals of ensuring the rights and dignity of women on all fronts and further empowering them, EC noted that it “considers the whole process of conduct of election as a major enhancer of status of women in lndia and is committed not to allow any erosion of this status in any manner during the election period under its own aegis”.
While the posts from Shrinate’s social media handles had taken an undignified dig at Ranaut’s candidature from Mandi (Mandi being a slang associated with immoral traffic), Ghosh had stirred the hornet’s nest by commenting on Mamata’s parentage at a press conference. After the massive backlash from social media users against her posts on Kangana, Shrinate had deleted them and claimed it was the doing of one of the many persons who have access to her social media accounts.
Unmoved by her claims, BJP and the National Commission for Women (NCW) had on Mar 26 filed a complaint with EC against Shrinate. TMC too approached the poll body seeking action against Ghosh.
EC had on Mar 27 issued separate notices to Ghosh and Shrinate, stating that their offensive comments prima facie violated the model code provision that requires criticism of other political parties and candidates to be confined to their policies and programmes, past record and work and not touch one’s private life or be based on unverified allegations or distortion.
EC in its show-cause notices reminded Shrinate and Ghosh of its advisory dated Mar 1, 2024, which had cautioned parties and their leaders against plummeting levels of political discourse.
Ruling that the impugned statements by the two politicians were “low-level personal attacks” and thus in violation of the model code of conduct, the poll body, in separate orders, warned them to be more careful with their public utterances till the model code remains in force.Sources said Ghosh’s and Shrinate’s election-related communications will henceforth be “especially and additionally monitored” by the Commission for any derogatory content.
Specifically condemning the disrespectful social media post made from Shrinate’s handle against Ranaut, EC said the former being chairperson of the Congress’s social media and digital platform at national level, “is expected to know sensitivities of wider communication”.
EC on Monday also marked to the party chiefs a copy of its warning notice to Ghosh and Shrinate. The purpose, sources said, is to get the party heads to sensitise their functionaries to be careful while communicating in the public domain and refrain from making any derogatory comments or violating MCC guidelines.
Emphasising that the Constitution of India all institutions of the country have constantly pursued the ideas and ideals of ensuring the rights and dignity of women on all fronts and further empowering them, EC noted that it “considers the whole process of conduct of election as a major enhancer of status of women in lndia and is committed not to allow any erosion of this status in any manner during the election period under its own aegis”.
While the posts from Shrinate’s social media handles had taken an undignified dig at Ranaut’s candidature from Mandi (Mandi being a slang associated with immoral traffic), Ghosh had stirred the hornet’s nest by commenting on Mamata’s parentage at a press conference. After the massive backlash from social media users against her posts on Kangana, Shrinate had deleted them and claimed it was the doing of one of the many persons who have access to her social media accounts.
Unmoved by her claims, BJP and the National Commission for Women (NCW) had on Mar 26 filed a complaint with EC against Shrinate. TMC too approached the poll body seeking action against Ghosh.
EC had on Mar 27 issued separate notices to Ghosh and Shrinate, stating that their offensive comments prima facie violated the model code provision that requires criticism of other political parties and candidates to be confined to their policies and programmes, past record and work and not touch one’s private life or be based on unverified allegations or distortion.
EC in its show-cause notices reminded Shrinate and Ghosh of its advisory dated Mar 1, 2024, which had cautioned parties and their leaders against plummeting levels of political discourse.
