No end to politics over Kamal Nath's jibe at Imarti Devi

Even though the Election Commission has sent a notice to Kamal Nath over his remarks towards Madhya Pradesh Minister Imarti Devi, the BJP and Congress are still continuing to attack each other over the issue. While the BJP has hit out at Kamal Nath for not issuing an apology, the Congress has questioned the Election Commission itself, accusing it of being selective in its actions.

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh):The politics over Kamal Nath's remarks towards Madhya Pradesh Minister Imarti Devi has only intensified as the Election Commission issued a notice to the Congress leader Kamal Nath, seeking his reply on the matter within 48 hours.

Following the notice, the Congress has questioned the actions of the Election Commission, calling the attitude of the poll body discriminatory and unfortunate. On the other hand, the BJP is criticising Kamal Nath for not apologising for his remarks and having a dogmatic attitude.

With the BJP aggressively raking up the issue, the Election Commission, National Commission for Women and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes issued notices to Kamal Nath. On the other hand, despite the objections by Rahul Gandhi, Kamal Nath is not ready to apologise.

Why did the EC not take cognisance against Bisahulal?: Cong

Meanwhile, the Congress has termed the functioning of the Election Commission discriminatory and unfortunate. The Congress said that the kind of attitude being adopted by Constitutional institutions these days to appease a particular individual, is really unfortunate.

Bhupendra Gupta, the vice president of the media department of Madhya Pradesh Congress, said it was very unfortunate that the educated and Constitutional institutions of India were seeking clarification on mere words.

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"I think constitutional institutions should not adopt this method to please some particular people. They should take care of their Constitutional system. Tell me whether the Election Commission has asked for an explanation as to why a woman was called a 'mistress'? Has the person been issued a notice yet? Has the Election Commission taken cognisance so far? Has the Election Commission taken cognizance that a candidate has used abusive language for Lord Ram and his mothers?," Gupta said, referring to state Minister Bisahulal Singh, who allegedly made a derogatory statement about a Congress leader's wife.

"Is there no need to take cognisance for this? The reputation of such institutions is damaged due to this disparity. The Congress party has always been in favour of free elections and an unbiased election organisation. The organisation, which was respected all over the world, is now being brought down. This is sad," the Congress said.

Kamal Nath acting dogmatically: BJP

Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said that not only the Election Commission of India, but Congress party leaders themselves have accepted that the words uttered by Kamal Nath were objectionable.

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"No such words can be said for any of the sisters and daughters in the society. Kamal Nath has to answer, because the kind of dogmatic attitude that has been adopted by him, the Congress is also being insulted throughout the country," Chaturvedi said.

Notice ordinary procedure, Shivraj also received it: Expert

Senior journalist and political analyst Deepak Tiwari said that leaders mouthing such remarks is nothing new. He said that earlier in 2017, during the Mugawali by-election, the Election Commission had given a similar notice to Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who was the Chief Minister at the time.

"This is a normal process. But the fact that a common matter becomes an election issue during polls is beyond comprehension," he said.

"I do not want to go into the merits and disadvantages of the words uttered by Kamal Nath. But the kind of language being used by both the parties in these elections, we may say it is not worse than the previous election. This type of language is used during every election," he opined.

Read:ECI serves notice to Kamal Nath over controversial remarks

"I think the only issue about this is that the local MLA first won the election from Congress party and reached the Assembly and resigned and is contesting from the BJP. I believe defection is a special issue and the public is going to vote on the same," Tiwari added.