Delhi: The critics have been blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not following the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by giving the interview just a day before the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections, but the Election Commission of India was keeping mum on the issue.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, former Election Commissioner of India Dr SY Quraishi on the development said, “It is impossible to implement the Model Code of Conduct in multi-phase elections and in the age of the electronic media. If a speech is made outside the silence zone, legally it can’t be faulted. Let Section 126 of RP (Representation of the People Act) be amended to allow everyone to campaign on television in the 48-hour silence period. Print media is already allowed”.
This critical opinion by the former EC points out the fact that during the elections, it is hardly that political leaders, belonging both to the ruling and the opposition faction, abide by these election protocols, which were created to conduct free and fair elections, in order to secure, preserve and uphold the democratic standards.
While on the face of it, it may seem that the interview of PM Modi on February 9 violated the spirit of the MCC. but in lieu of technicality and legality, they have walked down the street without any breach. As the interview was conducted in New Delhi and not in Uttar Pradesh and these are local elections and not the Lok Sabha polls, therefore the context of geography does play a major role here which eventually helped this interview to get escaped from the eyes of the Election Commission.
When being asked about the same development, former CEC Sunil Arora refused to comment. It is pertinent to note here that back in 2017, the ECI had invoked Section 126 against various media outlets for broadcasting an interview of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on the eve of the second phase of the Gujarat assembly elections. While the poll-watchdog later withdrew the notice as it was said that the particular section applies to candidates and their supporters and not to the media, therefore in this context the relevance and legality of PM Modi's interview on February 9 can be understood.
In the domain of legality, "the PM's interview does not come under the violation of the Representation of the People's Act (Section 126) because this is a local election and not a Lok Sabha poll. So, the implementation of the Model Code of Conduct is partially and therefore PM's statements (the interview) was for a larger interest" says Ashwani Dubey, advocate, Supreme Court.
