MVA to ECI: Act against Mungantiwar for ‘crass comments’ in PM’s presence

Quaid Najmi

Mumbai, April 9 (IANS) The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) on Tuesday appealed to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take strong action against Maharashtra BJP minister and Chandrapur Lok Sabha candidate, Sudhir Mungantiwar, at a rally addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday evening. 

Livid at the utterances by the BJP nominee, the MVA leaders like Congress General Secretary Sachin Sawant, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) National Spokesperson Clyde Crasto, Shiv Sena (UBT)’s National Spokesperson Kishore Tiwari, called upon the ECI to ‘cancel’ Mungantiwar’s LS candidature for the shockingly low-level language in public, with PM Modi sitting on the stage.

“The ECI should take notice of Mungantiwar’s speech and take immediate action. Such foul language should not be tolerated. He has made terrible and outrageous allegations referring to ‘brother and sister’ which are highly objectionable,” slammed Sachin Sawant.

“Mungantiwar’s utterances are shameful and a disgusting hate speech… He is either mentally unstable or is trying to create disturbances and a divide. The ECI must debar him from contesting the LS elections,” demanded Crasto sternly.

Tiwari rued that the fact that Mungantiwar could get away after making such vulgar and crass statements right in front of the PM, Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis and other dignitaries, suggests their ‘blessings’ for such profanity and it’s the ECI’s duty to take exemplary action and cancel his (Mungantiwar’s) candidature from Chandrapur.

Unfazed by the uproar, Mungantiwar posted early on Tuesday that when the Congress is reminded of its 1984 atrocities, “so many chillies fly.”

“The Congress cannot hide the injustice done to the people by making a partial clip viral. Congress leaders should tell me that such atrocities did not take place in the 1984 riots. I will always speak against the dictatorial regime of the Congress and will not be intimidated by your mischief,” he posted.

Issuing a veiled warning that “the Opposition has to merely speak the truth to counter such language”, Sachin Sawant said the “fear of losing has tipped the scales, and referred to the ECI notices slapped on AAP Delhi Minister, Atishi Marlena, Congress Spokesperson, Supriya Shrinate and Andhra Pradesh CM, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. They were warned by the ECI that ‘violations of the Model Code of Conduct will not be tolerated.’”

Sachin Sawant demanded that the same must be made applicable to Mungantiwar now for his false accusations and objectionable language.

“A humble question to the Honourable PM and all those who shared the stage with Mungantiwar when he made such disgusting utterances: Do you endorse his speech?” asked Crasto.

Using an old Sanskrit phrase, ‘vinaashakale vipareet buddhi’, Tiwari said that neither Mungantiwar’s comments nor the BJP’s silence on it are surprising as the party is bracing for a rude shock in the Lok Sabha 2024 elections not only in Maharashtra but across India.

While challenging the INDIA bloc’s pleas on democracy being threatened under the BJP, Mungantiwar made vague references to the 1984 riots in Delhi, on how spouses and their children were separated and a “brother and sister were stripped naked and made to lie on a cot.”

Meanwhile, activists of different local, social and political groups have expressed concerns over such comments that did not find favour with the masses there, especially the women and the youth, besides unleashing a storm on social media.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at [email protected] )

--IANS

qn/rad