The Election Commission on Thursday issued a show-cause notice to Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra over her “envelope” remarks related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s temple visit. It asked her to respond to the notice by October 30.
The EC action came a day after the BJP filed a complaint against her.
The BJP on Wednesday accused Ms. Vadra of “invoking the personal religious devotion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi” to make false claims during her election campaign in Rajasthan, and urged the Election Commission to take action against her.
Ms. Vadra, the BJP noted in its submission, told a public meet in Dausa on October 20 that she saw it on television that when an envelope of donation made by Mr. Modi at a temple was opened, it carried only ₹21. She added that she saw the news and was not aware if the claim is true or not, the BJP’s complaint read. She then went on to launch a political attack on the BJP saying that “envelopes” are shown to public by the party but nothing is found in them after the elections. The BJP included a video of her remarks in its complaint.
Reacting to the BJP’s complaint, Ms. Vadra on Thursday alleged that Mr. Modi was making “empty promises”. In a post on her WhatsApp channel she said: “The BJP people got so angry with one of my statements that they filed a case against me. I had said that I saw on TV— Prime Minister came to Devnarayanji’s temple with an envelope. When opened, ₹21 were found in it.”
“The work that he does also shows that Modiji’s envelop is empty. Women’s reservation, OBC caste census, ERCP (Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project) are all empty promises because Modiji’s envelope is empty,” she said.
A BJP delegation, including Union Ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Arjun Ram Meghwal along with party leaders Anil Baluni and Om Pathak, submitted a complaint to the EC to take appropriate legal action against Ms. Vadra.
