The poll panel has sought Majumdar’s explanation on why the advertisements should not be treated as violative of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), which is in force for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, and its advisory to political parties. According to an English transcript provided in the notices, one advertisement is titled “Trinamool is root cause of corruption” while the other is titled “Anti-Sanatan Trinamool”.
The first one alleged that West Bengal has become a cradle of corruption due to the state government. The other one, besides raising other issues, alleged that the Ram temple in Ayodhya is considered “unholy” in “this state”.
The TMC had approached the EC against the advertisements, dubbing those as “misleading”.
While issuing the notices, the poll watchdog reminded Majumdar about the provisions of the MCC, which deals with criticism based on unverified allegations, and its recent advisory to political parties that says unverified and misleading advertisements should not be published in the media.
On May 4, the ruling TMC had written to the EC and accused BJP of commissioning advertisements in some regional newspapers in Bengal that were “derogatory, false, and appealed to voters to vote on religious grounds”.
Majumdar is seeking re-election from Balurghat parliamentary constituency.
The EC on Saturday sent a show-cause to TMC’S Debra MLA Humayun Kabir for allegedly threatening voters and rival party workers during a poll rally in Murshidabad district.
According to reports, Kabir made the remarks while addressing an election rally in Murshidabad’s Kazipara area on May 2. In its notice, the poll panel referred to his remarks as “misconduct” and censured him. “The commission has carefully gone through the contents and averments made by Humayun Kabir in the aforesaid rally in context with all relevant records and provisions and is convinced that he has made the said statement and thus violated the aforesaid provisions of Model Code of Conduct; and now, therefore, the commission without prejudice to any order/notice issued or to be issued subsequently to him in the matter relating to MCC violations, hereby, strongly condemns the impugned statement made by Humayun Kabir, MLA during an election rally in Kazipara, Murshidabad for the above said misconduct and censures him for the abovesaid misconduct,” the EC stated in its notice.
Reacting to the showcause notice issued to him, Kabir said his remarks were “deliberately taken in isolation” to make them seem as a “threat and a violation of the MCC”..