Rajasthan elections: BJP's Tijara candidate served MCC violation notice

The election officer has sought a clarification regarding a statement made by the Baba Balaknath regarding vote counting

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s candidate from the Tijara Assembly seat in Alwar, Baba Balaknath, was served a notice by the returning officer for a possible violation of the model code of conduct (MCC). The notice was served in regard to a video in which he allegedly stated that if there are 1,440 votes in a village, in counting, they will turn out to be 1,450. The video surfaced on Monday.

"This time, voting will be such that if the number of votes in a village is 1,440, counting will show that 1,450 votes were polled," Balaknath supposedly said during a programme on Sunday.

Balaknath clarified that his remarks were meant to motivate party workers and stated that he would reply to the notice.

"I said those things just to motivate the workers. If a notice is served, I will reply," he said.

The MCC is enforced from the date of notification of the election, which was on October 9. The MCC is a set of guidelines, issued by the Election Commission of India, by which political parties and candidates must adhere to during elections.

Earlier, Opposition parties accused Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot of violating the MCC.BJP's Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore accused Gehlot of violating the MCC by visiting Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi in his official vehicle. The Chief Electoral Officer of Rajasthan, Praveen Gupta, had requested factual reports over the alleged poll code violation.

Since the enforcement of the MCC, more than Rs 63 crore worth of gold, drugs, liquor, and cash have also been in Rajasthan. The state's Assembly election is scheduled for November 25. The counting of votes for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Mizoram, will be done on December 3.

A party requires 101 seats to form the government in Rajasthan. Last elections were held in 2018, when Congress formed the government with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and independent candidates.

Read full coverage on Rajasthan state Assembly election here.

(With agency inputs)