Amit Shah's 'taught a lesson' remark not violative of poll code, say EC sources

Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remark at an election rally in Gujarat that perpetrators of violence were “taught a lesson” in 2002 was not violative of the model code of conduct, Election Commission sources said on Saturday.

After going through the report of the state chief electoral officer and seeking legal opinion, the poll panel concluded that referring to taking action against “miscreants” was not violative of the provisions of the poll code, said PTI.

Retired bureaucrat E A S Sarma had moved the poll panel over the statement Shah made at an election rally in Mahudha town of Kheda district last month.

Also read: Congress never condemned terror attacks due to vote-bank politics: Amit Shah

Shah’s statement

In the rally, Shah had said, “During the Congress rule in Gujarat (before 1995), communal riots were rampant. Congress used to incite people of different communities and castes to fight against each other. Through such riots, Congress strengthened its vote bank and did injustice to a large section of the society.”

“But after they were taught a lesson in 2002, these elements left that path (of violence). They refrained from indulging in violence from 2002 till 2022. BJP has established permanent peace in Gujarat by taking strict action against those who used to indulge in communal violence,” the Union minister had said.

Sarma to EC

Sarma however said on Friday that he had not received any reply to his complaint as well as two subsequent letters to the EC, Indian Express reported.

He said the EC should make its decision public through its website as it was a public authority under the Right to Information Act and required to make suo motu disclosures.

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Parts of Gujarat had witnessed large-scale violence in 2002 following the train burning incident at Godhra railway station in February of that year.

(With Agency inputs)