BJP hails EC’s advice on Karnataka election, urges Congress to heed it

Piyush Goyal, a prominent member of the BJP and a union minister, appreciated the Election Commission’s (EC) advice on Tuesday, urging political parties and leaders to use caution in their public remarks as they campaign for the forthcoming Karnataka Assembly elections, and he hoped the Congress will abide by it.

Goyal told reporters that the Congress and its leaders should follow the EC advice even if they “have never respected any constitutional authority,” adding that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) welcomes it.

“They have insulted Parliament, the EC, the courts, and the prime minister, whether in India or overseas. Nobody is spared by them. We hope that common sense will win out and that they will keep in mind that the nation’s citizens will not stand for it,” he stated.

On Tuesday, the election panel issued a warning to political parties and their top campaigners urging them to use prudence and control in their remarks while campaigning in Karnataka and not to sully the environment of the election.

The survey panel mentioned instances of “inappropriate vocabulary and language” used by people during electioneering, “in particular, by those invested with the statutory status of a star campaigner,” taking seriously notice of the “plummeting level of the campaign discourse.”

The Congress and the BJP are engaged in a verbal battle as the campaigning for the May 10 elections heats up.