The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down a plea by BSP chief Mayawati against the Election Commission's 48-hour ban on her from campaigning for making communal remarks.
Advocate Dushyant Dave had approached the Supreme Court on behalf of Mayawati, claiming the Election Commission had passed an ex parte order against her on Monday. The Supreme Court, however, turned down the request of Mayawati and said she was free to file a formal appeal against the Election Commission's order.
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The Supreme Court also expressed satisfaction with the Election Commission's move to bar, for varying periods of time, four politicians—Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Mayawati, SP leader Azam Khan and Union minister Maneka Gandhi—for making provocative and objectionable utterances. “Seems like you got powers," Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi was quoted as saying to the counsel of the Election Commission.
Mayawati was penalised for appealing directly to Muslim voters during a rally in Deoband not to split their votes between the Congress and the BSP-SP alliance.
