The Election Commission of India (ECI) on April 5 sent a notice to Aam Aadmi Party’s Delhi minister Atishi over her claims about being asked to “join BJP or face jail.” Atishi has been asked to issue a response to the ECI notice by 5 p.m. on April 6.
In the notice, ECI mentions, “Criticism of other political parties, when made, shall be confined to their policies and programme, past record and work. Parties and Candidates shall refrain from criticism of all aspects of private life, not connected with the public activities of the leaders or workers of other parties. Criticism of other parties or their workers based on unverified allegations or distortion shall be avoided.”
It also reminds in the notice, “The political parties and leaders shall not make false statements, utterances without factual basis aimed at misleading the voters. Criticism of other parties or their workers on the basis of unverified allegations or on distortions shall be avoided.”
What Atishi claimed
The Commission says in the notice that it received a complaint from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) about Atishi’s “misleading and unverified” claim during her press conference on April 2.
The AAP minister had claimed that she had been asked to join the saffron party or face consequences.
“I have been told that soon there will be ED raids at our residence and then we will be taken into custody. The BJP is now targeting the next line of the leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party,” Atishi said.
What BJP said
The BJP has termed Atishi’s claim as “baseless”.
“I too can make such baseless allegations. I too can say that Saurabh Bharadwaj called me up and requested me to protect them from Arvind Kejriwal who wants to put them behind bars and make Sunita Kejriwal the CM,” BJP leader RP Singh said.
The move assumes significance as it follows Delhi Chief Minister Aravind Kejriwal’s arrest on March 21. He has been sent to judicial custody till April 15. AAP leaders including Satyendar Jain, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh were also arrested earlier, but Singh was granted bail by the Supreme Court on April 2.
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Published: 05 Apr 2024, 11:48 AM IST