EC slaps ‘panauti’ notice on Rahul

New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) issued a show-cause notice to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday for his “panauti”, “pickpocket” and “loan waiver for the super rich” jibes at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and asked him to respond by Saturday.

The Congress leader had used the “panauti” barb against Modi in a poll speech in Rajasthan as the prime minister had attended the World Cup cricket final that India lost to Australia after 10 consecutive wins in the tournament. A Hindi slang, “panauti” loosely refers to someone who brings bad luck. The former Congress president took the “pickpocket” dig at Modi during a poll speech on Wednesday, alleging that the prime minister diverts people’s attention while industrialist Gautam Adani picks their pockets. This is how pickpockets operate, he had alleged.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had approached the poll panel against the former Congress president, saying it was “unbecoming” of a “very senior leader” to use such language. The EC reminded Gandhi that the Model Code of Conduct prohibits leaders from making unverified allegations against political rivals.

The Congress leader used those words targeting the prime minister at recent rallies in poll-bound Rajasthan. In its representation to the EC, the BJP had asserted that the allegation of grant of waivers to industrialists of Rs 14,00,000 crore over the last nine years was “not borne out on facts”.