Over 2,200 citizens write to EC, demanding action against PM Modi for hate speech

New Delhi: more than 2,200 citizens have submitted their application a letter to the Election Commission of India (ECI) seeking action against BJP's top campaigner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

The letter is a reaction to various speeches by Modi, including the one in Banswara, Rajasthan, on Sunday, where he asserted that the Congress Manifesto talks about distributing the citizens' wealth among the infiltrators (read Muslims) if they are elected to power.

The letter highlights that the MCC is clear that no party or candidate should participate in any activity which may aggravate existing differences, create mutual hatred or provoke tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic.

The Prime Minister, while campaigning as [Bharatiya Janata Partys] Star Pracharak [campaigner], delivered a speech on April 21 in Rajasthan that disturbed the sentiments of millions of constitutional people towards Indian citizens, the group said in a petition to the poll panel. This speech is dangerous and a direct attack on the Muslims of India.

The petition was signed by 2,209 people, according to a report published in Scroll.in.

On Sunday, Modi had said: When the Congress-led government was in power, they had declared that Muslims had the first right to the country's property. This means that they will distribute wealth to those who have more children andthose who are infiltrators. Is this acceptable to you?

The letter added: Shri Narendra Modi blatantly violated the MCC by aiming not only to appeal to communal sentiments but also to incite and aggravate hatred of Hindus against Muslims.

The citizens' group highlighted that Modi's use of derogatory language against Muslims in a bid to garner votes seriously undermines India's stature as the mother of democracy in the world.

The failure of the Election Commission to take action against such hate speeches will only undermine its credibility and autonomy which has been safeguarded and upheld by a series of exemplary officers before you, the petition states.

Modi on Sunday reportedly referred to remarks that the Congress leaderManmohan Singhhad made on December 9, 2006, when he addressed a meeting of the National Development Council.

Singh, the then prime minister, had said the country's priorities were to promote the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, Minorities and women and children.

Here is what Modi said on April 21, 2024, during a public rally in Banswara:

Earlier, when their (Congress) government was in power, they had declared that Muslims had the first right to the country's property. This means to whom will this property be distributed? It will be distributed to those who have more children. It will be distributed to infiltrators. Should your hard-earned money go to the infiltrators? Do you approve of this?

Here is what Manmohan Singh said in December 2006:

While clarifying a deliberate and mischievous interpretation of his remarks during a meeting of the National Development Council on the government's budgetary priorities, the PMO had said:

I believe our collective priorities are clear: agriculture, irrigation and water resources, health, education, essential investments in rural infrastructure and essential public investment needs in general infrastructure, as well as as programs aimed at uplifting SC/ST, other backward classes, minorities, women and children. The constituent plans of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will need to be revitalized. We will need to design innovative plans to ensure that minorities, particularly the Muslim minority, are empowered to equitably share the fruits of development. They must have first rights to resources. The Center has a myriad of other responsibilities whose requirements will need to be adapted to the range of resources available.

The PMO's clarification read: It is clear from the above that the Prime Minister's reference to the first demand for resources refers to all the priority areas listed above, including programs to improve SC, ST, OBC, women, children and minorities.