Arvind Kejriwal has to respond to the notice by 5 pm on Saturday.
Highlights
- Arvind Kejriwal listed "differences" between AAP, rival parties in video
- Election Commission adjudged that it violates the Model Code of Conduct
- Chief Minister has been asked to respond to notice by 5 pm on Saturday
The Election Commission today issued a show cause notice to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over a February 3 video tweet that listed out "differences" between the Aam Aadmi Party and its political rivals. He has been asked to respond by 5 pm on Saturday.
The notice was issued to Arvind Kejriwal on the basis of a complaint filed by the BJP the very next day. According to the complaint, the video uploaded by the Delhi Chief Minister was intended at "gaining votes by aggravating existing differences/creating mutual hatred/causing tension between religious communities in violation of the Model Code of Conduct".
The video posted by Arvind Kejriwal seemed to claim that rival parties and media channels loyal to them were "playing communal politics" to win the assembly elections while AAP's sole objective is to ensure the city's all-round development. The Election Commission notice issued in this regard contained a complete transcript of the clip.
The Election Commission said it is "prima facie" of the view that the video tweet, which has the "potential to disturb communal harmony and aggravate existing differences between social and religious communities", was in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
This is the second show cause notice served to Arvind Kejriwal by the poll body over the last 10 days. The first, dated January 30, pertained to a promise of establishing mohalla clinics in city courts at a time when the model code of conduct was in place.
According to the report received by the Election Commission, Arvind Kejriwal had said: "If given land, we will make mohalla clinics inside courts and bars. If you give us space in every court, we will just need two to three rooms to set up a moholla clinic."
Several BJP politicians, including Delhi MP Parvesh Verma, Uttar Pradesh Chief MInister Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister Anurag Thakur, have been pulled up by the Election Commission for making inflammatory remarks too.