Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma gets EC notice for ‘Akbar’ remarks during Chhattisgarh poll campaign

The Election Commission on Thursday issued a show-cause notice to Assam Chief Minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma for his remarks targeting Chhattisgarh’s lone Muslim minister Mohammad Akbar during the assembly poll campaign last week. The commission has asked Sarma to respond to the notice by 5 pm on October 30. During his speech in Kawardha in Chhattisgarh on October 18, Sarma had taken a controversial dig at Akbar saying that “the land of Mata Kaushalya will get defiled if Akbar isn’t sent off.” “If one Akbar comes to some place, he calls 100 Akbars. So, send him off as soon as possible, otherwise the land of Mata Kaushalya will get defiled,” he said. Mata Kaushalya, the mother of Lord Ram, is believed to hail from what is modern day Chhattisgarh. While issuing him a notice, the poll panel reminded him of a provision in the poll code which states that “no party or candidate shall include in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic.” Elections to the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly will be held in two phases - on November 7 and 17.