EC expresses displeasure at Gadkari’s remarks
13 Oct 2014 3:42 AM IST
The Election Commission on Saturday expressed ‘displeasure’ at Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s reported remarks asking voters to accept bribe during campaigning in assembly polls of the western Indian state Maharashtra.
In its order, which also carried excerpts of Gadkari’s response to the commission’s show-cause notice, EC said ‘irrespective of whatever intentions you might have had, such statements clearly bring disrepute to the purity of our elections as well as the integrity of the democratic process.’
Expressing ‘displeasure’, EC said it expects Gadkari to be ‘more circumspect in your public utterances in future.’
The former BJP president had allegedly said in Marathi that ‘now, I am watching your faces and I have some skill of predicting the future by way of face reading. You have an opportunity of ‘Laxmi darshan’ in next 10 days. Special people to get foreign made, ordinary people to get local brand...
‘All are Gandhivadis asking for Rs 5,000. In these days of inflation, keep one thing in mind, eat what you wish and drink what you desire. Keep whatever you get. This is the time when illegally earned money can go to the poor. Therefore, do not say no to Laxmi. But think while you vote. Your vote should be for the development of Maharashtra.’
Maharashtra is going to polls on 15 October and the model code came into force on 12 September.
Responding to the show cause, Gadkari told the EC that ‘the entire tenor of my speech was to denigrate any attempt to allure/induce voters through any unlawful means. This was done by me through humour and sarcasm. At this point, I would also like to underscore the absence to humour in our present public life. I would urge you to consider carefully the humorous tone in which I spoke...’
In its order, which also carried excerpts of Gadkari’s response to the commission’s show-cause notice, EC said ‘irrespective of whatever intentions you might have had, such statements clearly bring disrepute to the purity of our elections as well as the integrity of the democratic process.’
Expressing ‘displeasure’, EC said it expects Gadkari to be ‘more circumspect in your public utterances in future.’
The former BJP president had allegedly said in Marathi that ‘now, I am watching your faces and I have some skill of predicting the future by way of face reading. You have an opportunity of ‘Laxmi darshan’ in next 10 days. Special people to get foreign made, ordinary people to get local brand...
‘All are Gandhivadis asking for Rs 5,000. In these days of inflation, keep one thing in mind, eat what you wish and drink what you desire. Keep whatever you get. This is the time when illegally earned money can go to the poor. Therefore, do not say no to Laxmi. But think while you vote. Your vote should be for the development of Maharashtra.’
Maharashtra is going to polls on 15 October and the model code came into force on 12 September.
Responding to the show cause, Gadkari told the EC that ‘the entire tenor of my speech was to denigrate any attempt to allure/induce voters through any unlawful means. This was done by me through humour and sarcasm. At this point, I would also like to underscore the absence to humour in our present public life. I would urge you to consider carefully the humorous tone in which I spoke...’
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