In a response to the Election Commission of India (ECI) notice to him in context of the ‘item’ jibe issue, former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath called the allegations of the BJP against him as ‘political canard and falsehood'.
He also termed the allegation and related outcry as an attempt of the BJP to divert the public attention from real issues.
Kamal Nath underlined that upholding dignity of women has been a cornerstone of his public life and would find reflection in his actions and administrative policies in a career spanning over 40 years.
In his response, the ex-CM said that there has been no violation of para 1(1) and para 1(2) of the model code of conduct and the advisory of ECI (dated April 29, 2020) on his part. He also urged the commission to close the proceedings against him in consideration of his response.
The ECI had served a notice to Kamal Nath, asking him to explain the alleged ‘item’ jibe on minister Imarti Devi at a public rally in Dabra of Gwalior on October 21.
Interestingly, in his two page response, Kamal Nath urged the ECI “with utmost humility to not get embroiled at the behest of the BJP in the political thicket of electioneering.”
“The BJP in Madhya Pradesh is facing a huge backlash of unethical and corrupt conduct. To obviate this stigma, these selective outcries are being orchestrated to divert the public attention from the real issues that are facing the electorate,” the response said.
Further in the response, submitted on Kamal Nath’s behalf to ECI by senior lawyer and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha, the ex-CM said that the remark quoted in the notice of the ECI was in “complete misunderstanding of its context”.
“The complaint is an election driven narrative of the BJP to change the course of election, where otherwise the issues of unethical defection resulting in fall of government, public belief of huge financial transactions to engineer the fall coupled with unethical shenanigans of the BJP seems to capture and resonate with the electorate,” the response said.
It added that if the ECI replays the entire speech made on October 18, it would understand that “there was neither any ill-will, nor malice during the entire speech. The speech is a castigation of the theatrics of the BJP and its leaders”.
Kamal Nath also referred to the Supreme Court's landmark judgments that state that “in the heat of elections, many statements come out in the spur of the moment”.
“In this case, there was neither any premeditation nor design to dishonor or indignify a woman or womanhood. It was an admonition of the political scenario which is replete with drama. The incomplete transcript attached along with the notice is neither a reflection, nor does justice to the complete speech. I was only castigating the theatrics of the BJP leaders,” he said.
There was no malice or intent to disrespect a lady, the response further read, and added that “to me and my party, upholding the honour and dignity of women is paramount”.
Kamal Nath also mentioned in the response that during the last three months, the MP state government has consistently breached all the COVID-19 related protocols through rallies of different leaders, but the only cases registered by the administration was against him and his party leaders. He also mentioned that but for a single case of violation against Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, “the administration and the EC watches the rallies of Mr Scindia, Mr Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other leaders helplessly in breach”.
