Slamming the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) for registering “frivolous” and “baseless” complaints, the Congress on Monday conveyed to the Election Commission that no violation of the Representation of the People Act was done during the Bharat Jodo Yatra and children were not used for campaigning.
A Congress delegation of general secretary Jairam Ramesh, party’s social media head Supriya Shrinate and senior leader Salman Khurshid met Election Commission officials to reply to a notice by the poll watchdog over a complaint by the child rights body, NCPCR.
“We met the members of the Election Commission and informed them that neither was there any violation of the Representation of the People Act nor of model code during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. We fail to understand why Election Commission has given us a notice on the complaint of NCPCR,” Mr. Ramesh told reporters after meeting the EC officials.
“People come in thousands on roads and want selfies clicked with Rahul Gandhi. This is not an illegal act, there is no election campaigning. Rahul Gandhi is not asking children to vote for the party,” he added.
“Childish behaviour”
Without naming NCPCR chief Priyank Kanoongo, Mr. Ramesh said since its inception in 2007, for the first time the child rights body is headed by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-BJP functionary. He said they had presented a detailed document over the “childish behaviour” of the NCPCR and asserted that “only a painting competition was organised and Rahul Gandhi participated in a prize distribution ceremony”.
“We have told the EC that this is completely baseless. No law has been violated. Lakhs of people are coming, lakhs of kids seeking selfies come. It is the BJP that has misused kids, when Rahul Gandhi meets small children, the propaganda that is being spread and the language that is being used [is there for everyone to see]. Even a picture of Rahul Gandhi with his sister’s daughter was misused,” Mr. Ramesh said.
The Congress also filed a counter-complaint against the BJP, alleging that the ruling party and its functionaries were “using children in a mala fide and perverse way”.
Days after the Bharat Jodo Yatra started on September 7, the NCPCR had asked the EC to initiate necessary action and inquiry into a complaint against the Congress and Mr. Gandhi for allegedly “misusing children as political tools” in the yatra.
