PM's meditation trip sparks row, Congress moves ECI
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced he would meditate at Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanniyakumari, Tamil Nadu from May 30 to June 1, the Congress submitted a representation to the Election Commission of India. The party that the PM's trip should either be postponed or its broadcast banned in accordance with the Model Code of Conduct norms. Trinamool Congress's Mamata Banerjee also hit out at the PM asking why should Modi meditate in front of camera.
Why does this story matter?
On Tuesday PM Modi announced his plans to visit and meditate at the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanniyakumari from Thursday (May 30) to Saturday (June 1)—after the culmination of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Lok Sabha election campaign. Notably, PM Modi is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh which will go to the polls on June 1 in the final phase of the elections.
No one allowed to campaign during silence period: Singhvi
A delegation of Congress leaders led by National Spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi met ECI officials and submitted the representation. Later, speaking to mediapersons, Singhvi said, "We told the ECI that no one is allowed to campaign directly or indirectly during the silence period [48 hours before elections when campaigning comes to a halt]."
Ban media coverage of PM's meditation trip: Congress
"We have no issue with someone observing a vow of silence. But there should be no indirect campaigning during this... You know that the period of silence starts from May 30 morning (7 am), and will continue till June 1." "We kept two very simple points before the ECI — either the PM starts his trip after June 1 evening, or if he insists on starting it tomorrow (Thursday) then, a ban is imposed on its media coverage," said Singhvi.
Why meditate in front of camera: Banerjee
Meanwhile, addressing an election rally at Baruipur in Jadavpur constituency, Banerjee said, "Does anybody meditate in front of the camera? He wants to show people that he is meditating... If he (Modi) is saying that he is God then, then why should he meditate?" "He cannot campaign like this. He can meditate but that cannot be telecast on the television. This is a violation of MCC and we will complain to the ECI," she added.
