New Delhi: Narendra Modi, BJP's prime ministerial candidate, has been given four more days to reply to the Election Commission's notice on his "khooni panja" (bloody claw) remarks made against Congress during a rally in poll-bound Chhattisgarh.
His party, BJP, had sought a week's time to respond to the notice, the deadline for which ended today.
The Commission, after deliberating on the matter, has now asked the Gujarat Chief Minister to reply to its notice by 11.30 AM on November 20.
"We have asked for one more week from EC to reply to its notice to Modi as we have not been able to discuss the matter with him. Modi is busy in the last phase of the poll campaign in Chhattisgargh," BJP Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had said earlier.
Mr Modi was served with the notice on November 13, asking why action should not be initiated against him for his remarks, allegedly in reference to the Congress's poll symbol, which is a picture of a hand.
A CD of Mr Modi's speech delivered on November 7 in Dongargarh in Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh was obtained by the poll panel along with the remarks of the Returning Officer before the notice was served on the Gujarat Chief Minister.
The Election Commission had said in its notice that if no reply was received within the prescribed time, it would be presumed that Mr Modi had nothing to say. The Commission said it would then take appropriate action without any further reference to him.
The poll panel had earlier issued a similar notice to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi for his comment that victims of the recent riots in Muzaffarnagar were approached by Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI, and for accusing BJP of spreading hatred among communities.
The Election Commission expressed its displeasure to Mr Gandhi over the comments and asked him to be more circumspect in his public utterances in the future. The poll watchdog had said that since the Model Code of Conduct was in force in Chhattisgarh, criticism of other political parties was not permitted.
Chhattisgarh voted on November 11 in the first of the two-phased polls; November 19 is when the state votes next.