Complaint against PM for holding a road show on voting day, opposition question EC for inaction

Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a road show after casting his vote in the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly polls on Monday in Ahmedabad. However, following the roadshow, opposition parties like Congress and Trinamool Congress attacked PM Modi and accused him of flouting the model code of conduct and demanded that the Election Commission take action.

Ahmedabad: Yogesh Ravani, chairman of the state Congress unit’s legal cell, lodged a complaint against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for holding a road show while going to cast his vote in the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly polls on Monday in Ahmedabad. Following the roadshow, opposition parties like Congress and Trinamool Congress attacked the PM, accused him of violating the model code of conduct, and demanded that the Election Commission take action.

PM Modi held a mega 50-km roadshow ‘Pushpanjali Yatra’ after casting his vote at a polling station in Nishan Higher Secondary School. The roadshow ’ passed through 35 areas of the city. Amid "Modi, Modi" chants, the roadshow passed through 13 constituencies in Ahmedabad and one in the Gandhinagar district. Congress leader Pawan Khera said, "The Prime Minister, who went to cast his vote in Ahmedabad, conducted a roadshow for 2.5 hours and that was covered live by all channels free of cost. Congress will take "necessary steps" and prevail upon the Election Commission in that regard.

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot said, "Be it the Prime Minister or anyone else, there should be equal treatment for everyone, and decisions should not be taken under pressure or fear. There is nothing new in this, in 2017 he did the same thing and received criticism across the country for the same, and this is the difference between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. In our time, decisions used to be taken according to people's will, this is a democracy."

Furthermore, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also criticised the PM's roadshow and lashed out at the Election Commission for "special" treatment meted out to the PM. "Roadshow is not permitted on the day of voting, but Prime Minister Modi and his party are VVIPs, they can do anything and will be excused. We, political parties, have to abide by the rules of the Election Commission. On election day, roadshows are banned. But they (Modi and the BJP) are special people,” reportedly Mamata Banerjee said at the Kolkata airport.