The Congress has asked the Election Commission to take action against parties and their leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for alleged "misuse" of children in their political campaigns.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted that the Election Commission has assured of action after a party delegation met the commission today.
"We also hope against hope that the NCPCR finds its spine somehow and issues a notice to the PM," Mr Ramesh tweeted, referring to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.
The NCPCR had also filed a complaint against the Congress for allegedly using children in their Bharat Jodo Yatra led by party leader Rahul Gandhi, a matter that the Congress dismissed as "frivolous" and "baseless".
"We are very deeply concerned about children being exploited and being used for election campaigns in Gujarat. We have produced videos that a lot of people have seen; it has been widely made viral," Congress leader Salman Khurshid said in a statement.
"We have produced those videos before the Election Commission and we have given a written complaint that the Election Commission itself has very clearly observed several times, that children must not be used in campaigns, they must not be exploited in campaigns and yet, this is happening. Now, how can it be that the Election Commission takes the clear view and yet it is ignored in the election campaign, we have brought this to their attention. They promised us that they will examine it very closely, scrutinise it and they will take appropriate actions," Mr Khurshid said.
A few days after the Bharat Jodo Yatra began on September 7, the NCPCR had asked the Election Commission to take action against the Congress and Mr Gandhi for allegedly "misusing children as political tools" in the party's cross-country march.
Mr Ramesh alleged that since the NCPCR's inception in 2007, the child rights body is being run by a "BJP-RSS functionary" for the first time. Priyank Kanoongo is the NCPCR chairperson.
Featured Video Of The Day
Russian Army Marches In 'Made In Bihar' Boots Manufactured In Hajipur
Poll Body Gives Aggrieved Candidates Choice On How They Want To Check EVMs Poll Body Gets Applications For EVM Verification On 8 Lok Sabha Seats Ensure Complete Transparency Of EVMs Or Abolish Them: Rahul Gandhi To Poll Panel 'Entire NEET Paper Solved In 45 Minutes Before Exam?': Top Court To Centre "Had God On My Side": Donald Trump Recounts Being Shot At During Rally 32 Dead In Bangladesh Unrest, Protesters Set Fire To State TV Headquarters "Every Time I Try To Eat Healthy" - Video Creator's Editing Skills Amaze Internet Watch: Comedian's Wholesome Interaction With Indian-Origin Woman Is Viral Donald Trump Accepts Republican Nomination Amid Chants Of USA From Crowd Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.