BJP files complaint against Shashi Tharoor over violation of Model Code of Conduct

The BJP has filed a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer against Congress's Shashi Tharoor alleging violation of model code of conduct.

The complaint was filed after posters featuring Malayalam and English editions of Tharoor's books, including Why I am a Hindu, were pointed out by netizens. The BJP has claimed that the posters "with books like Why Am I A Hindu is an attempt to exploit Hindu religious sentiments."

Tharoor had tweeted to a netizen's query on the posters saying that they were put up by well wishers last week before he was "officially adopted" as Congress's candidate. He says the posters "reflect my life as a writer". He further stated that his own official election posters have been printed following the declaration of his candidacy on Saturday night and that "those will soon be up with no books on them!"

The general conduct instructions given by the Election Commission instructs that candidates shall not "appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes."

After learning about the case filed against him, Tharoor tweeted, This is hilarious! It is not even an election poster, doesn’t ask anyone2vote for me &was issued before I was even declared as a candidate. It features covers of several books, of which #WhyIAmAHindu was published in Jan 2018. Meanwhile the BJP’s communal appeals are everywhere!