PANAJI
Citing instances of leaders from the Indian National Congress and Aam Aadmi Party grossly violating Covid guidelines while campaigning, Goa TMC president Kiran Kandolkar and vice-president Kishore Narvekar, in two separate letters addressed to the Chief Electoral Officer, demanded immediate intervention of the Election Commission to put an end to voter influencing tactics which puts the State at a health risk amid the Covid pandemic, stated a press release.
In a complaint letter dated February 7, Goa TMC vice-president Kishore Narvekar wrote to the Election Commission with documented evidence of leaders from Congress including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra participating in campaigning activities that stood in gross violation of the Covid Revised Board Guidelines 2022, the release adds.
"As is evidenced on the party's social media channels, during the campaigning, the leaders were not in masks and neither did their supporters and other party workers follow the minimum social distancing protocols. Moreover, the events violated the basic premise laid down by the Election Commission which limits these rallies for a maximum of up to 10 people," the TMC stated in its release.
Just a day prior, TMC State president Kiran Kandolkar filed a similar complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer against AAP leaders including Arvind Kejriwal and their Dabolim constituency candidate Premanand Nanoskar. The complaint cited an incident on February 4, where the AAP leaders were seen campaigning at the Ganapati temple in Navade, in violation of Clause 1(3) of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) which prohibits a place of worship to be used as a forum for election propaganda, the release stated.
In both these instances, AAP and INC leaders stand not only in violation of the MCC but have also posed a huge health risk to the State, the TMC added in its release.
Considering these gross infractions Goa TMC leaders requested the immediate intervention of the EC to treat the health and well-being of the State with prime importance and discourage any further such violations by these elected officials and their supporters, the release adds.
