New Delhi [India], May 29 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meditation at Vivekananda Rock Memorial, on May 30 will “not violate” the silence period, which comes into effect 48 hours before voting for the last phase of Lok Sabha polls, as the PM will be meditating and will not be speaking about elections, say legal experts.
PM Modi will be meditating at Vivekananda Rock Memorial, a monument built in tribute to Swami Vivekananda, in Kanyakumari following the culmination of campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections on May 30.
However, Opposition parties are opposing the meditation saying that this will be a violation of the silence period which starts 48 hours before the conclusion of voting.
Voting for the seventh and last phase of the Lok Sabha election will be held on May 1. Polling in the last phase will be held on 57 seats in 8 states/UTs.
According to the BJP leaders, Modi will meditate from the evening of May 30 to the evening of June 1 at Dhyana Mandapam, the place where Vivekananda, a spiritual icon admired by Modi is believed to have had a divine vision about Bharat Mata.
Congress on Wednesday approached the Election Commission, saying that the Prime Minister’s move constitutes a “violation” of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
“We told the Election Commission that during the silence period of 48 hours, no one should be allowed to campaign, directly or indirectly,” senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters after meeting Election Commission officials at the poll body’s office in Delhi.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said that the Trinamool Congress will complain to the Election Commission if Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meditation in Kanyakumari is televised, alleging that it would amount to a violation of the code of conduct.
According to legal experts, the telecast of meditation will not have any violation of MCC as he will be not uttering any word that can be linked to the election campaign.
“The Prime Minister had gone on a similar meditation exercise in a Kedarnath cave after the 2019 poll campaign and that was not in violation of MCC,” a legal expert said.
Legal experts further said that Section 126 of the Representation of People Act, 1951, deals with the prohibition of public meeting(s) or propagating and displaying election matter(s) to the public, during the operation of the silence period.
However, it is not applicable in the case of multi-phased elections i.e. when the elections are held on different dates if the content of the election matter relates to subsequent phase(s) and, in no way, has any reference to the polling area, under the silence period, they pointed out.
Another legal expert said, “So long as one does not talk about the locality where the election is happening, there is no bar.”
“If there are no spoken words, as reported, there seems to be no violation. Similar permission was given by the Commission to the PM during the 2019 Lok Sabha when the election was scheduled in Varanasi during the last phase,” he stated. (ANI)
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