Election Commission blocks Mayawati for 'Ali', Yogi for 'Bajrang Bali'

Lucknow: Acting against the alleged hate speech, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has temporary barred Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and BSP supremo Mayawati from campaigning for the Lok Sabha election 2019 for violating the Model Code of Conduct. The restriction on the two leaders starts from 6 AM on Tuesday.

The move comes after the Supreme Court rebuked the poll panel for ‘having limited power to act against such leaders’. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had asked the representative of Election Commission to appear before it tomorrow.

The poll panel has barred the UP chief minister from holding public meetings, road shows and giving media interviews for 72 hours starting from 6 AM on April 16. His rival Mayawati has been barred for 48 hours.

Also read: Yogi performs yajna for election moksh; will BJP get people's ashirvaad?

“He (Yogi Adiyanath) being the CM of a state has an added responsibility to not only uphold the basic tenets, including secularism, of the Constitution, but also to display the same in his public appearances/speeches,” the poll panel said in its notice against UP Chief Minister.

Last week, the poll panel had issued a show cause notice to Adityanath for his “Ali” and “Bajrang Bali” remarks while addressing a rally in Meerut.

“Agar Congress, SP, BSP ko 'Ali' par vishwaas hai toh humein bhi 'Bajrang Bali' par vishwaas hai (If the Congress, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party have faith in Ali, we have faith in Hanuman),” the UP CM had said. His statement came while referring to BSP chief Mayawati's speech at a rally in Deoband, where she urged Muslims to back the alliance.

The EC had earlier cautioned Adityanath to be more careful in future pertaining to his “Modi Ji Ki Sena” comment.
  

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