The BJP on Wednesday approached the Election Commission of India (ECI) to demand that action be taken against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “panauti (jinx)“ during an election rally in Rajasthan, a day after India lost the cricket World Cup to Australia. Mr. Modi had attended the final held in Ahmedabad, and Mr. Gandhi’s remarks were seen as an insinuation that the PM had jinxed the prospects of the home team’s victory.
A BJP delegation, including party general secretary Radha Mohan Das Agarwal and senior leader Om Pathak, also sought ECI action against Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, accusing him of falsely claiming that the Prime Minister’s caste had been added to Gujarat’s list of other backward classes (OBCs) when he was the State’s Chief Minister.
The Ghanchi caste, a community traditionally employed in oil pressing, was included in the OBC list in 1999, two years before Mr. Modi became CM in 2001, Mr. Pathak said.
‘Spoiling poll environment’
“We request the Election Commission to intervene urgently by taking appropriate legal action against Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi for their continued fraudulent, baseless and abusive practice and to pass a prohibitory order against them,” the BJP said, in its communication to the ECI.
The BJP alleged that not taking action would “spoil the electoral environment, where abusing, usage of objectionable and offensive language to defame respectable individuals, and spreading false news will become inevitable”.
Mr. Agarwal also attacked Mr. Gandhi, calling him a “senseless and valueless” politician, and asserted that Mr. Modi was respected by world leaders.
