I have a right to talk about my party's ideology: Rahul to EC

After sparking a furore with his speech in which he said that ISI terrorists were in touch with Muslim riot victims in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today told the Election Commission that he had no intention of hurting anyone’s sentiments. Gandhi’s reply came in a sealed enveloped to CEC a little ahead of the 11:30 AM deadline set by the poll body. The Election Commission will discuss Gandhi’s reply in its meeting chaired by the Chief Election Commissioner. According to reports, Gandhi, in his two-page-long response, has said that he had not violated the model code of conduct with his speech. “I am legally entitled to talk about my party’s ideology,” the Congress Vice President was quoted as saying in the letter by CNN-IBN.  Gandhi’s reply comes after he was issued a notice by the Election Commission. The BJP had filed a complaint against the Congress Vice President over his election rally speeches in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh where he blamed the principal opposition party for inciting communal riots. [caption id=“attachment_1218491” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Gandhi had accused the BJP of fanning riots across states. PTI image[/caption] In its show cause notice to the Congress leader on 31 October, the Election Commission had pointed out that the allegations made in the speeches seemed to violate sections of the Model Code of Conduct which dissuaded leaders from making unsubstantiated claims against their opponents and inciting communal sentiments. “Whereas, the Commission is prima facie of the view that your aforesaid speeches are violative of above-referred Sub paras (1), (2) and (3) of Para 1 of the Model Code of Conduct for political parties and candidates,” the Election Commission had noted in its letter. The Congress Vice President had sought additional time to file his reply to the letter and had been granted time till today. The BJP had attacked the Congress leader over his speeches and his allegation that he had been briefed by an intelligence official that Pakistani intelligence agencies were attempting to get in touch with youth affected by the riots. The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi had claimed that a Rajasthan police official who was seeking a ticket to contest elections had told the Congress Vice President about the ISI attempting to reach out to riot victims. However, strangely enough, Gandhi received support from the unlikeliest corner with BJP ally, Shiv Sena, backing him on his comments on the ISI.