Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a spiritual journey today after holding his very last rally for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 before the last phase of polling commences on June 1.
PM Modi will travel to Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari on Thursday after holding a rally in Punjab’s Hoshirapur. Here, the prime minister will meditate at the Vivekananda Rock Memorial from May 30 to June 1 to mark the culmination of BJP’s election campaign.
However, PM Modi’s plans have irked the Opposition who don’t want his meditation to be televised as it would be a violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections too, PM Modi went to Uttarakhand’s Kedarnath for a similar exercise just before the election results were announced. Here he undertook a 15-hour-long solitary meditation.
TMC to complain to EC
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that the Trinamool Congress will lodge a complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) if PM Modi’s meditation in Kanyakumari.
“We will complain. He can meditate, but it cannot be aired on television,” Mamata said saying that televising it would amount to the violation of MCC.
”Does anyone have to get cameras to do meditation?” the chief minister asked, claiming that the practice is Modi’s way of canvassing the 48-hour silence period before the last phase of the election.
Congress opposes move
Similarly, Congress alleged on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trying to “circumvent” the silence period restrictions with his 48-hour meditation trip in Kanyakumari from May 30 and urged the Election Commission to ensure it is not aired by the media as it violates the model code of conduct.
A delegation of Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala, Abhishek Singhvi and Syed Naseer Hussain met the Election Commission and handed over a memorandum in this regard along with 27 other complaints of alleged model code violations by the BJP in the last few days.
Other Opposition parties follow suit
Other Opposition parties including Tamil Nadu’s DMK and Samajwadi Party have joined the tune of TMC and Congress in opposing PM Modi’s Kanyakumari meditation plan getting televised.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazgham (DMK) has slammed the practice saying “it is a drama enacted for political gains.” DMK’s Kanyakumari south district advocates’ wing organiser M Joseph Raj has even submitted a petition to the returning officer of the city urging him to deny permission for the event.
SP’s Dimple Yadav, meanwhile, said that to meditate one does not need to travel to Kanyakumari to meditate as it can be done at home too.
What does MCC say?
ECI’s Model Code of Conduct states, “Public meetings cannot be held after 10 PM and before 6.00 AM. Further, candidates can not hold public meetings and processions during the period of 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for the conclusion of the poll.”
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Why is TMC, Congress opposing media coverage of PM Modi’s meditation in Kanyakumari?
