Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh has written to the Election Commission of India (ECI) complaining about the tone and tenor of the language used by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during his election meetings.
The SP has sought an immediate ban on such speeches by him.
In a letter to the ECI, SP national secretary and party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary, highlighted Yogi’s warning that criminals would face the “bulldozer” once the election results are out.
The SP has also alleged that the Chief Minister frequently alludes to the party as “goons” and “mafia” during his speeches. The SP has quoted such lines from various speeches of the Chief Minister in the letter to support its allegations.
“In Agra, the Chief Minister recently said ‘bulldozer will run after March 10’. Also, he has been frequently calling the SP leadership ‘goonda, mawali, mafia’. On February 1 in Meerut’s Siwalkhaas and Kithore, he said ‘red cap means rioters, history sheeters’ and in Kairana he said ‘all the heat that is visible will be doused. I know how to douse all the heat’. He is regularly using a threatening language,” Chaudhary alleged in the letter.
“You would agree that even in the intensity of electioneering and under no circumstances, the use of undignified language against a political rival can be justified, especially by a person occupying the constitutional chair of the chief minister. The language used by the ruling BJP’s Chief Minister towards the Opposition does not come under the category of moderate, dignified and polite speech. There is no justification for the use of such language in a democracy.”
It further said that, “such violations of the poll code by the ruling party can adversely impact the conduct of an independent and unbiased elections in the state”.
Also in January, the SP had written a letter to the ECI seeking a ban on opinion polls and removal of certain bureaucrats from their posts.
Kalinga AI