EC notice to Sisodia over Atishi ‘Rajputani’ tweet

| | NEW DELHI
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EC notice to Sisodia over Atishi ‘Rajputani’ tweet

Wednesday, 08 May 2019 | Staff Reporter | NEW DELHI

Delhi Chief Electoral Officer on Tuesday issued a show- cause notice to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia, over an alleged violation of model code of conduct in connection with his recent tweet on Atishi’s religious identity, and asked him to give a response by Wednesday evening.

However, replying to a notice, Sisodia said he had no hesitation in accepting that he was trying to convince people to vote for education and health instead of Mandir-Masjid (politics of religion).

The notice has been issued by East Delhi Returning Officer (RO) K Mahesh on the basis of a complaint lodged on April 28 by the Delhi Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) unit.

Sisodia was issued a notice following a complaint lodged by the BJP which alleged that the AAP used public funds for issuing letters seeking votes by highlighting achievements of the Government.

In a tweet on April 27, Sisodia had tweeted in support of AAP East Delhi candidate Atishi and hit out at her detractors who had raised controversy over her last name and religion.

In a tweet in Hindi, the Deputy Chief Minister had alleged that both the BJP and the Congress were "spreading lies" about her religion. "... Her full name is Atishi Singh. She is a Rajputani. A full-fledged Chhatrani. A Jhansi ki Rani. Beware. She will win and script history," Sisodia had tweeted.

 The tweet "appears to be in violation of Point (I) Annexure-I of the Manual on Mode Code of Conduct..," the notice read. "Now, therefore, you are directed to furnish your comments on the above matter before the undersigned by 5 PM on May 8, 2019 otherwise it will be presumed that you have nothing to say," it stated.

Sisodia in his reply said "However, as far as the complaint of Bharatiya Janata Party leader is concerned, I would like to say that this is nothing but expression of their frustration. The letters have been written by me to individuals in my personal capacity. No public fund has been used in sending the letters,".

He also urged the BJP not to indulge in "petty politics" and try to seek votes on the basis of work "if they have done any". "The Election Commission should "also encourage political parties to seek votes on the issues like education, health, water, electricity, jobs, etc. And discourage parties who are seeking votes in the name of hate," he said.

Citing that the pass percentage of Delhi Government schools in class 12 has increased and crossed 94 per cent, which is a record in the history of national Capital, Sisodia said not only education but the other sectors including infrastructure of schools and several other things have undergone drastic change.

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