The Election Commission has issued a notice to the Haryana unit of the BJP. Taking seriously the matter of using a child in a post on social media, the Commission has issued a notice to the state president of the party and asked him to take “immediate corrective action”. Using children in election campaigns and other election-related activities is a violation of the Election Commission’s guidelines.
The state president of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been asked to respond to the show cause notice by 6 pm on Thursday.
This notice was issued by the Chief Electoral Officer of the state after taking cognizance of the video posted by Haryana BJP on social media.
On Tuesday, the Haryana unit of the Aam Aadmi Party shared a 36-second video uploaded by the BJP’s state unit. The BJP wrote in the caption of the video – “Every child’s call, Naib government again in Haryana”
Elections are due in Haryana on October 1 and the ruling BJP is trying to come to power for the third consecutive time. The video begins with a child saying, “Ab ki baar Saini sarkar in Haryana, Jai Hind!” In the rest of the video, Chief Minister Naib Singh Saini is seen talking to children on various occasions including Rakshabandhan. These programs seemed non-political.
In a social media post, the Haryana AAP alleged that the state BJP “has stooped so low that it is blatantly violating the Model Code of Conduct by using children for its election campaign in Haryana.”
AAP said in its post written in Hindi, “Now BJP Haryana has stooped so low that it is openly violating the code of conduct by using children for its election campaign in the state. BJP continuously keeps doing such things which insult the code of conduct and the constitution of the country. Now the time has come for the Election Commission to be impartial and take strict action against the BJP.”
What did the Election Commission say?
According to the agency, official sources said that the Chief Election Officer has asked the state BJP chief to respond by 6 pm on August 29. When contacted, Haryana Chief Election Officer Pankaj Aggarwal said, ‘State BJP President Mohan Lal Badoli has been asked to respond by August 29.’
What are the guidelines of the Election Commission?
According to the guidelines of the Election Commission, no child should be involved in the election process by political parties and election officials. Leaders and candidates should not use children for election campaigns or rallies in any way, including lifting children in their lap, carrying children in their vehicles or making children a part of election campaigns or rallies.
Furthermore, children should not be used to create a political campaign through spoken word or poems or songs, display symbols of a political party or candidate, demonstrate the ideology of a political party, promote the achievements of a political party or criticise opposing political parties
In February, the Election Commission had asked political parties and candidates not to use children “in any manner” in political campaigns and rallies. “Political parties are clearly directed not to involve children in any form of election campaign, including rallies, sloganeering, distribution of posters or pamphlets or any other election-related activity,” the poll panel had said.