Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi took a dig at the BJP on Wednesday saying "Dear BJP, daro mat (dear BJP, don't be afraid), a day after the BJP approached the Election Commission complaining about Gandhi having spoken 'inappropriately' about the Congress party symbol.
The BJP even wanted the symbol disqualified.
Gandhi, during the Congress party's 'Jan Vedna Sammelan' last week had said that he had seen the 'hand' symbol in photos of saints and gods. "I was told that the Congress party was around 100 years old. But one day, when I was going through some photos, I saw the Congress symbol in a photo of Shivji," Gandhi had said.
The BJP, riled by the comment, said that correlating the Congress party symbol 'hand' with religious figures was violative of the model code of conduct, the IANS reported.
A delegation led by union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Prakash Javadekar approached the Election Commission saying the comment was communal and demanded that the symbol be seized.
"This is the Congress party's brand new communal agenda and Rahul Gandhi is flouting the moral code of conduct. The statement given by Rahul Gandhi is made to spread communalism during election time and Election Commission should take stringent action," Minister of State for Minority Affairs, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.
Naqvi alleged that Congress has been a history-sheeter party and this has been their traditional way of working.
"The Election Commission (EC) has said that they have taken it very seriously and that they'll take necessary steps," he added.
After the news was reported, Gandhi, quoting a tweet about the news said:
According to BJP's complaint, Gandhi had violated the provisions of Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, Model Code of Conduct and guidelines issued by the Supreme Court.
(With inputs from agencies)
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