Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 27: The Election Commission of India on Wednesday slapped show cause notices to the BJP leader Dilip Ghosh and Congress leader Supriya Shrinate for their remarks against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate for Mandi seat in Himachal Pradesh and Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut respectively.
The poll body found the remarks of Ghosh against Ms Banerjee, and Shrinate’s against Kangana Ranaut to be “undignified and in bad taste” and asked them to respond to the commission by 5 PM on Friday to explain why action should not be taken against them. “In the event of no response… it will be presumed you have nothing to say…” the ECI said.
The ECI took action against Ms Shrinate following a complaint by the BJP that alleged she had posted a picture of Ranaut along with “derogatory remarks” on social media platform X. The notice to Mr Ghosh was issued after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) approached the Commission. “… on careful examination, the comment(s) have been found to be ‘undignified and in bad taste’, and to be prima facie violative of provisions of the Model Code of Conduct…” the poll panel said.
The BJP president JP Nadda also issued a notice seeking clarification from Mr Ghosh regarding his remarks against Ms Banerjee. It said Mr Ghosh’s comment was “indecent and unparliamentary” and against the party’s ethos and values.
Controversy erupted after a crude and sexist post targeting Ms Ranaut appeared on Ms Shrinate’s Instagram account. The Congress leader issued a video clarification on her X handle, in which she said she had deleted the inappropriate post. Ms Shrinate said the post had been made without her knowledge.
“Many people have access to my Facebook and Instagram accounts. Someone from them made an extremely inappropriate post today. As soon as I came to know, I deleted that post. Everyone who knows me knows I can never make personal and indecent comments towards any woman,” she said.
She also blamed a parody account bearing her name for the post. “Someone copied it from there and posted it on my Instagram and Facebook accounts. I am trying to know who has done this… I have also reported this parody account to Twitter,” she said. However, by then the post and the photograph had kicked up a storm, including a letter from the National Commission of Women to the Election Commission calling for action against Ms Shrinate. NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma also urged the Congress leader Sonia Gandhi to take stringent action against Ms Shrinate and another Congress leader, HS Ahir, for similarly distasteful comments.
The saffron camp slammed the grand old party for making such comments and accused the leader of intending to assassinate Ranaut’s character. The party said the highly objectionable and indecent statements clearly show that the Congress has no respect towards the law of the land.
Ms Ranaut – who makes her political debut in this Lok Sabha election – responded sharply. “We must free our daughters from the shackles of prejudices, we must rise above the curiosity about their body parts and above all we must refrain from using sex workers’ challenging lives or circumstances as some kind of abuse or slur… every woman deserves her dignity,” she said.
She also hit out at the Congress leader and said, “Dear Supriya ji, in the last 20 years of my career as an artist, I have played all kinds of women. From a naive girl in Queen to a seductive spy in Dhaakad, from a goddess in Manikarnika to a demon in Chandramukhi, from a prostitute in Rajjo to a revolutionary leader in Thalaivii,” Ranaut said in a post on X.
The party further filed a complaint with the state’s chief electoral officer, seeking legal action against Shrinate saying that the Congress leader has misused social media to try and demean its Lok Sabha candidate. “These remarks, derogatory and sexually oriented, which undermine the dignity of a woman are also in violation of the mandatory guidelines of the Model Code of Conduct.”
An under-fire Congress has since responded. The party said that such coarse language has no place in public discourse, and also that the matter should end now with Ms Shrinate’s explanation.
The TMC has ripped into Mr Ghosh over his crude remark against Ms Banerjee stating “Didi goes to Goa and says, ‘I am Goa’s daughter’… goes to Tripura and says, ‘Am Tripura’s daughter’. Decide who your father is. It is not good to be just anybody’s daughter,” he had said.
Unfortunately for the BJP, Mr Ghosh’s comment also left the party on the back-foot even as it was trying to corner the Congress over the post on Ms Shrinate’s account against Ms Ranaut. Aware of the damage Mr Ghosh’s remark could have on its image in Bengal, the BJP has demanded an explanation from its senior leader. Mr Ghosh has said he will respond to the party’s questions.
“I have no personal enmity with the Chief Minister. I only questioned the political remarks she has made to mislead people. A lot of people have problems with my language and usage of words… Many have said it is not parliamentary. If that is the case, I regret it,” he said on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, while announcing the 2024 Lok Sabha election date, the poll panel warned parties and political leaders to behave themselves. Stating that the level of political discourse is falling in the country, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar warned politicians from making caste or religious appeals and to avoid criticising “any aspect of private life” of their rivals. “In this digital world, anything you say has a record and is played over and over. Please avoid creating digital memories of bad words that are coming out of your mouth. Please be civilised during the election,” he added.
The commission’s advisory issued to the political parties regarding plummeting levels of political discourse notes that no aspect of the private life, not connected with the public activities, of the leaders or workers of other parties is to be criticised. “Low level personal attacks to insult the rivals shall not be made. The political parties and candidates to refrain from any deeds/action/utterances that may be construed as being repugnant to the honour and dignity of women,” it said.