Delhi HC to hear plea seeking disqualification of PM Modi for 'hate speech' on April 29

Delhi High Court will hear a plea on Monday seeking disqualification of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for six years for allegedly seeking votes in the name of religious deities and places of worship for Lok Sabha polls, LiveLaw outlet reported.

It comes a day after the Election Commission flagged Prime Minister Modi and Rahul Gandhi for the alleged hate speeches made during an election rally.

The letters from the EC to the two-party presidents did not directly name either Modi, Gandhi or Kharge, but the representations received by it were attached to the respective letters and they contained details of allegations against the three leaders.

The EC has also asked the Congress to respond to complaints filed by the BJP against the main opposition party's president Mallikarjun Kharge and its senior leader Rahul Gandhi regarding their remarks.

In the notice sent to Nadda, the Election Commission sought his response by Monday to the complaints filed by the Congress, CPI, CPI (ML) and civil society groups regarding the remarks made by Modi on April 21 in Banswara.

These complaints had referred to Modi's allegations that the Congress wanted to redistribute the wealth of the people to Muslims and that the opposition party won't even spare the 'mangalsutra' of women.

The speech led to a major political slugfest with the Congress and other opposition parties accusing the prime minister of making false claims and the BJP alleging that the Congress was nursing an agenda of Muslim appeasement at the cost of weaker sections of the society.

The EC also asked Nadda to bring to the notice of all star campaigners of the party to "set high standards of political discourse and observe provisions of model code of conduct in letter and spirit".

The poll panel also said that campaign speeches made by those holding high positions have more serious consequences.

Officials said it is the first time that the panel has taken cognisance of a complaint against any prime minister.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the EC had given a clean chit to Modi on complaints lodged by the opposition parties. Then election commissioner, Ashok Lavasa, gave a dissent note on some of the decisions taken by the EC on complaints against the prime minister.

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