MEMORANDUM

April 12th, 2019

Ref: 0019A/2019

HATEFUL/DIVISIVE SPEECHES BY TOP BJP LEADERS

INDEX

SL.NO Particulars Page

No.s
1. Representation 2-9

2. Annexure I : 10-12
Copies of news items reporting PM’s Nanded
Speech.

3. Annexure II: 13-15

Copies of news items reporting Shir. Amit Shah’s
Nagpur speech.

4. Annexure III: 16-19

Copies of various news items reporting UP CM,
Shri. Ajay Singh Bisht’s speech and his tweet.

5. Annexure IV: 20-21

Copy of the excerpts from Hon’ble Kerala High
Court Judgment in M.V. Nikesh Kumar v. K.M.
Shaji, (2018 SCC Online Ker 4953).

6. Annexure V: 22-23
Copy of the excerpts from Hon’ble Supreme
Court’s Judgment in Abhiram Singh v.
Commachen CD. (2017(2) SCC 629)

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 MEMORANDUM

April 12th, 2019

Ref: 0019A/2019

To,

Chief Election Commissioner &

His Companion Election Commissioners of India

The Election Commission of India,

Nirvachan Sadan
New Delhi - 110001

Dear Sirs,

RE: CORRUPT PRACTICES COMMITTED BY PM MODI, BJP

PRESIDENT AMIT SHAH & UP CM AJAY SINGH BISHT AT
ELECTION RALLIES IN NANDED, NAGPUR & MEERUT ON
APRIL 9TH, 2019, RESPECTIVELY.

FIFTH REQUEST FOR URGENT AND NECESSARY

INTERVENTION AGAINST PM NARENDRA MODI’S
CONTINUED AND BRAZEN VIOLATION OF THE MODEL
CODE OF CONDUCT & IN PARTICULAR THE HATEFUL &
DIVISIVE COMMENTS BY HIM, BJP PRESIDENT & UP CM
AJAY SINGH BISHT IN ELECTION RALLIES AT NANDED,
NAGPUR & MEERUT

I.
On behalf of the Indian National Congress, we the undersigned, are
compelled to bring to the attention of the Hon’ble Election Commission,
alarming and brazen violation of electoral laws by the captioned
individuals namely; the Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi, the BJP
President Shri. Amit Shah & Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri. Ajay
Singh Bisht during their rallies in Nanded, Nagpur and Meerut
respectively on April 9th, 2019.

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At all three of the aforementioned rallies, the concerned individuals
employed the use of hateful, communal and divisive language against
the Congress Party and its President Shri. Rahul Gandhi.

The commonality of the message and the venomous theme employed by

the three senior most leaders of the BJP present two clear conclusions:
First, the incidents were malicious and deliberate insofar as the same
theme of religious polarization was evident across all three speeches
and; Second, since they all occurred on the same day (being the last day
of campaigning for the phase) it can be safely presumed that the
offences were part of a coordinated campaign with language tailored
specifically to create discord between two different religious
communities.

INCIDENT I: PRIME MINISTER IN NANDED,

MAHARASHTRA

On April 9th, 2019 at a rally in Nanded Maharashtra, Prime Minister,

Narendra Modi made a direct attack at Shri. Rahul Gandhi for choosing
Wayanad to contest as a second seat in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
He said –

“Congress ke naamdaar ne microscope le kar

bharat mein ek aisi seat khoji hai jahan par vo
muqabala karne ki taakat rakh sake. Seat bhi
aisi jahan par desh ki majority minority
mein hai.”

Copies of news items reporting PM’s Nanded speech are annexed

herewith and marked as ANNEXURE –I.

INCIDENT II: AMIT SHAH IN NAGPUR, MAHARASHTRA

On April 9th, 2019 Shri. Amit Shah while addressing a poll rally in
Nagpur again targeting Mr. Rahul Gandhi and Indian National Congress
and also making reference to Indian Union Muslim League said –

“Rahul baba apne gathbandhan ke liye

Kerala ke andar aisi seat par jakar khade
hai malum hi nahi padta juloos nikalta hai
toh bharat hai ya Pakistan ka juloos hai.”

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He also said:
“Mitron 10 saal tak ye UPA sarkaar thi, Congress
NCP ki sarkaar thi , aur 10 saal tak ye Aalya,
Mallya, Jamaliya desh me ghuskar
jawanon ke sar kaat kar le jate the, apne
jawano ke sar ko apmanit karte the, koi
jawab nahi diya jata tha, Narendra Modi ki
sarkaar aayi, abhi Pulwama par Pakistan ke
bheje hue aatankwadiyon ne hamla kiya,
apne 40 jawaan shaheed ho gaye..poore desh
bhar ke andar gussa hatasha nirasha thi…”

He continued on this malicious theme and then made personal remarks

against the former Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh and said –

“….Magar ye Mauni Baba, Manmohan ki

sarkaar nahi thi, ye Narendra Modi ki sarkaar
thi, BJP ki sarkaar thi, shaheedon ke terahvi
ke din, bharati airforce ke jawaan vimaan
lekar Pakistan ke ghar me ghus kar
aatankwadiyon ke training camps ke bhud
challe udaane ka kaam, air-strike kar ke
Bharat ki sena ne, aur Pakistan ko karara
jawaab dene ka kaam BJP ki Narendra Modi
sarkaar ne kiya….”

…
“Rahul baba, aapko aatankwadiyon ke sath ILU
ILU karna hai to karo, ye BJP ki sarkaar hai
wahan se goli chalegi to yahan se gola chalega,
eent ka jawaab patthar se diya jayega..."

Shri. Amit Shah then went ahead and accused the Congress of maligning
Hindus by using words like “Hindu terror and saffron terror”.
……
“Rahul baba ne swayam hindu terror,
bhagwa terror kar ke,duniya me hindu
samudaaye ko badnaam kiya hai…Hindu
samudaye kabhi terrorist ho sakta hai
kya…Court ne kaha hai hindu terror jaisa
kuch nahi hai…”

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Copies of news items reporting Amit Shah’s Nagpur speech are annexed
herewith and marked as ANNEXURE –II.

INCIDENT III: AJAY SINGH BISHT IN MEERUT, UTTAR

PRADESH

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri. Ajay Singh Bisht during his rally
in Meerut attempted to create a divide amongst the citizen on
communal lines and called the Congress and IUML alliance “Unholy”.
He said –
…..
“Mai bhi aapse ye kehna chahta hun bhaiyo
behno..agar Congress ko Ali par , SP, BSP ko Ali
par vishvaas hai hume bhi Bajrang Bali par
vishvaas hai ”.
…
“Aur mai kehna chahta hun ki ki Congress, SP,
BSP, Lokdal inhone keh diya hai ye log is baat ko
maan chuke hain ke ki Bajrang Bali ke …… unhe
kabhi bardaasht nahi karenge…to wo manch par
Ali Ali Chillate hain....is Hara virus ko
pashchimi UP me lane ki zarurat nahi..is
virus ko hum Poorvi UP se pehle hi safaaya
kar chuke hain ”

It may be noted tht Shri. Ajay Singh Bisht has left no doubt as to his
intentions vis-à-vis communal polarization going ahead and even
tweeting this communal statement in defiance of the laws of the land.
Copies of various news items reporting UP CM, Shri Ajay Singh Bisht’s
speech and his tweet are annexed herewith and marked as
ANNEXURE – III.

II.
The Prime Minister and his party members have for the last five years
fostered an atmosphere of communal tension for petty political gains.
The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi BJP President Amit Shah & Chief
Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Ajay Singh Bisht comments are part of
deplorable strategy and the must be held accountable.

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The BJP candidates know, but don’t seem to care, that this is a direct
violation of Section 123 (3A) of Representation of People Act, 1951
which labels such hate speech and brazen attempts to divide individuals
on religious lines as a corrupt practice which is sufficient grounds for
the disqualification of a candidate. It provides as follows:

“123. Corrupt practices.—The following shall be

deemed to be corrupt practices for the purposes of
this Act:—

(3A)The promotion of, or attempt to promote,

feelings of enmity or hatred between different
classes of the citizens of India on grounds of
religion, race caste, community, or language, by a
candidate or his agent or any other person with
the consent of candidate or his election agent for
the furtherance of the prospects of the election of
that candidate or for prejudicially affecting the
election of any candidate.”

Further such acts also violate Section 153A of Indian Penal, 1860.

153A. Promoting enmity between different

groups on grounds of religion, race, place
of birth, residence, language, etc., and
doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of
harmony.—

(1) Whoever—
(a) by words, either spoken or written, or by
signs or by visible representations or
otherwise, promotes or attempts to
promote, on grounds of religion, race, place
of birth, residence, language, caste or community
or any other ground whatsoever, disharmony
or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will
between different religious, racial, language
or regional groups or castes or communities,
or

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 (b) commits any act which is prejudicial to
the maintenance of harmony between
different religious, racial, language or regional
groups or castes or communities, and which
disturbs or is likely to disturb the public
tranquility, 2[or] 2[(c) organizes any exercise,
movement, drill or other similar activity intending
that the participants in such activity shall use or be
trained to use criminal force or violence or
knowing it to be likely that the participants in such
activity will use or be trained to use criminal force
or violence, or participates in such activity
intending to use or be trained to use criminal force
or violence or knowing it to be likely that the
participants in such activity will use or be trained
to use criminal force or violence, against any
religious, racial, language or regional group or
caste or community and such activity for any
reason whatsoever causes or is likely to cause fear
or alarm or a feeling of insecurity amongst
members of such religious, racial, language or
regional group or caste or community,] shall be
punished with imprisonment which may extend to
three years, or with fine, or with both.

In the last 5 years, one candidate has been disqualified by a High Court
(in this case, Kerala) for violating this section and mixing religion and
politics. The Kerala High Court in M.V. Nikesh Kumar v. K.M. Shaji,
(2018 SCC Online Ker 4953) observed as follows:

“The basic principle underlying S. 123 (3) of the

Representation of People Act, 1951 would eliminate
divisive factors such as religion, caste etc. from the
electoral process. Therefore, the emotions
generated by religion should not be permitted to be
exhibited during election and choice of the people
are not coloured in any way. The candidates
cannot tell the electors that their rivals are
unfit to act as the representatives of the
people on the ground of their religion, if
such an appeal is made it would be an
appeal on the ground of religion.”

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A copy of the excerpts from Hon’ble Kerala High Court Judgment in
M.V. Nikesh Kumar v. K.M. Shaji, (2018 SCC Online Ker 4953) is
annexed herewith and marked as ANNEXURE – IV.

Furthermore, in the landmark decision of the Supreme Court in

Abhiram Singh v. CD Commachen (2017(2) SCC 629) on the subject are
relevant in the instant case as well:

“An appeal in the name of religion, race,

caste, community or language is impermissible
under the Representation of the People Act, 1951
and would constitute a corrupt practice
sufficient to annul the election in which
such an appeal was made regardless
whether the appeal was in the name of the
candidate’s religion or the religion of the
election agent or that of the opponent or
that of the voter’s. The sum total of Section 123
(3) even after amendment is that an appeal in the
name of religion, race, caste, community or
language is forbidden even when the appeal may
not be in the name of the religion, race, caste,
community or language of the candidate for whom
it has been made. So interpreted religion,
race, caste, community or language would
not be allowed to play any role in the
electoral process and should an appeal be
made on any of those considerations, the
same would constitute a corrupt practice.”

A copy of the excerpts from Hon’ble Supreme Court’s Judgments in

Abhiram Singh v. Commachen CD, are annexed herewith and marked
as ANNEXURE – V.

IV.
This is the fifth brazen violation by the Prime Minister in the last four
weeks since the Model Code of Conduct came into force.

In the case of Shri. Ajay Singh Bisht, it is important to mention that the
Hon’ble Commission had censured him on April 7th, 2019 directing that

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he should be careful about making “such utterances in the future”.
Clearly and respectfully, there has been no impact on Shri. Ajay Singh
Bisht despite this Hon’ble Commission’s censures against him.

In fact, the PM’s and his Party members’ violations have grown ever
more brazen. The Commission must ask itself if the same leeway would
be granted to any other candidate if the so arrogantly and repeatedly
defied the laws of our country.

Under our Constitution, all citizens must abide by the rule of

law regardless of how high they may feel themselves to be. We
take it upon ourselves to remind the Hon’ble Commission of
its vast and expansive powers under Article 324 to arrive at
solutions to ensure that the integrity of the electoral process
is not compromised.

We hope that the ECI treats this situation with the gravity it deserves.
As evidenced by the events of the last month, these
individuals will not be silenced by a simple censure or rebuke.

The integrity of our elections which are the bedrock of our democracy is
at stake. We hope that the ECI appreciates the seriousness and on this
occasion, intervenes decisively.

Warm Regards,