The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has written to chief election commissioner (CEC) SY Quraishi, seeking action against PPCC president Capt Amarinder Singh over a Congress advertisement campaign.
While alleging the Congress had no respect for the model code of conduct, the SAD even questioned the Election Commission’s (EC) “silence” on the matter, on Tuesday.
The Parkash Singh Badal-led SAD has been involved in a spat with the EC over several instances of alleged violations of the model code of conduct.
On Tuesday, the CEC urged Badal to reconsider his stated position about questioning actions of the EC officials in Punjab. On Sunday, Badal had released a statement criticising EC functioning.
Earlier, the SAD had complained to the chief electoral officer, Punjab, against the use of the word Kakaji in the Congress campaign, which it called “derogatory, slanderous and covert” reference to deputy chief minister and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal.
The controversial campaign, being run by the state Congress through a Chandigarh-based advertising agency, features characters Jeeta and Jaggi, who blame Kakaji and the SAD-BJP government for the sad state of affairs in Punjab.
“Our media monitoring committee examined the issue after a reply was sought by the chief electoral officer. The Congress claimed Kakaji was a general term for a youth from an affluent and powerful family and that they were not referring to any particular person in the government,” said special chief electoral officer Usha R Sharma.
{{/usCountry}}“Our media monitoring committee examined the issue after a reply was sought by the chief electoral officer. The Congress claimed Kakaji was a general term for a youth from an affluent and powerful family and that they were not referring to any particular person in the government,” said special chief electoral officer Usha R Sharma.
{{/usCountry}}“We have referred the matter to the CEC. We will take action after getting directions from him,” Sharma added. President of SAD’s legal cell, Harpreet Singh Brar, said, “The monitoring committee has failed to check the unabated and continuous violation of instructions and the model code of conduct. The party has made several complaints, but no action has yet been taken against the PPCC.”