What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
Days after the Election Commission sent a notice to Congress over the participation of children in its 3570 km Bharat Jodo Yatra, party said that reports of children being used for election campaigns are untrue as Rahul Gandhi is not asking children to vote for the party.
Days after the Election Commission sent a notice to Congress over the participation of children in its 3570 km Bharat Jodo Yatra, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday, said that reports of children being used for election campaigns are untrue as Rahul Gandhi is not asking children to vote for the party.
The remarks of the Congress leader came after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) asked the Election Commission to initiate necessary action and an inquiry into a complaint against Rahul Gandhi for allegedly “misusing children” in the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra.
The NCPCR said it received a complaint wherein it has been alleged that Rahul Gandhi and the Jawahar Bal Manch are targeting children with political intentions and making them get involved in political activities.
Congress general secretary Ramesh, along with Congress leaders Supriya Shrinate and Salman Khurshid, met Election Commission officials to reply to a notice by the poll watchdog over a complaint by the Commission.
Ramesh, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP, said, “We met the members of the Election Commission and informed them that no violation of the Representation of People’s Act was done during the Bharat Jodo Yatra.”
The Congress leader said that we fail to understand why the Election Commission has given us a notice on the complaint of NCPCR.
He also said that Congress has presented a detailed document on the childish behaviour of the NCPCR, which alleged that kids are being used (in Bharat Jodo Yatra).
“Only a painting competition was organised and Rahul Gandhi participated in a prize distribution ceremony,” Ramesh said. “People come in thousands on the roads and want selfies clicked with Rahul Gandhi. This is not an illegal act, there is no election campaigning. Rahul Gandhi is not asking children to vote for the party,” he said.
Ramesh said that since the inception of NCPCR in 2007, it is the first time that it is being headed by a “BJP-RSS functionary”. Priyank Kanoongo is the chairperson of NCPCR.
“We have told the Election Commission that this is completely baseless. No law has been violated. Lakhs of people are coming, and lakhs of kids seeking selfies come. It is the BJP that has misused kids,” Ramesh said.
“When Rahul Gandhi meets small children, the propaganda that is being spread and the language that is being used (is there for everyone to see). Even a picture of Rahul Gandhi with his sister’s daughter was misused,” Ramesh said.
He said that all this was another example that the BJP is rattled and will do anything to damage the Kanyakumari to Kashmir Yatra, which would continue.
