New Delhi: Responding to the notice issued to its party chief Mallikarjun Kharge for allegedly calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a ‘terrorist’, the Congress on Thursday categorically stated that the time granted was not sufficient, and sought a week to file a detailed reply in this regard.
The response of the grand old party came after the poll panel had issued a stern notice to Kharge over his remarks on Wednesday. It has asked Kharge, who is also the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, to submit his response within 24 hours.
In its response addressed to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Congress general secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh wrote, “At the very outset, we would like to express our surprise at the short amount of time given to the Congress president to reply to the charges levelled against him in the Notice i.e. 24 hours. You would have been aware that this is certainly not sufficient time, given that the Congress president is in the middle of multiple campaigns. It almost seems the CEC is executing the notice as a formality rather than as an act in discharge of natural justice.”
“We seek time to file a detailed response within one week and also for a senior delegation of Congress leaders to present the same,” he said.
Referring to Kharge’s remarks, Ramesh said, “Now coming to the context of the remarks/comments in question, they have already been clarified subsequently by Congress president himself– He (PM Modi) is terrorising people and political parties. I never said he is a terrorist…What I mean, I want to clarify, is that Modi always threatens. The institutions like ED, IT and CBI are in his hands. He wants to take delimitation also into his hands. Therefore, I said, in that context, he is terrorising people and political parties. I never said he is a terrorist.”
He said this clarification was already available in the public domain and by relying only on a quote taken out of context by the BJP and not looking at the entire comment, “there does not seem to be any application of mind by the officials before hastily issuing this notice”
“It almost seems that an attempt is being made to deliberately overlook the clear and unequivocal explanation about the context in which the words were uttered, so as to find some way to take action against the Congress president. Unfortunately, it smacks of ulterior motives,” he said.
Ramesh stated that the Congress president is sufficiently clear and no member of the general public can claim otherwise. “We categorically state that there is no violation of the MCC or any other laws. We also need hardly remind you of the numerous instances we have filed complaints against the PM and the Home Minister and no action was taken by you in the past,” he said.
The ECI’s action against Kharge came within hours after a delegation of the BJP comprising Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju met the top brass of the poll panel and demanded the strictest action against him for his alleged remarks against the Prime Minister.
On Tuesday, the Congress chief, while addressing a press conference in Chennai, referred to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a ‘terrorist’ while criticising the AIADMK’s alliance with the BJP.
However, when pressed by mediapersons to clarify the context of the remark, he said he meant the prime minister was ‘terrorising’ the democratic fabric of the country.
“He is terrorising people and political parties. I never said he is a terrorist (in the literal sense). He is misusing his power and government machinery and abusing and maligning opposition parties,” the Congress chief said.
On Tuesday, the BJP had urged the poll panel to take immediate cognisance of the Congress president’s remark and direct him to submit a public apology.
