Cancel Mungantiwar’s LS candidacy for scurrilous comments, Congress writes to ECI

Mumbai: The Maharashtra Congress on Tuesday demanded that the candidature of BJP nominee and state minister Sudhir Mungantiwar be cancelled for his scurrilous and defamatory remarks at a public rally in Chandrapur, made in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

In a formal complaint to the Maharashtra Chief Electoral Officer, Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe referred to Mungantiwar’s speech in which he used inflammatory language with derogatory remarks against the Congress intended to 'spread hatred'.

Londhe cited Mungantiwar’s ‘hate speech’ that contained not only offensive words with instances of denigrating the dignity of women, contributing to a hostile and disrespectful environment towards women in politics and society.

The Congress leader said that the BJP Chandrapur LS candidate’s language was divisive and aimed at creating enmity among different groups and polarising communities, disseminating fake information by false claims to manipulate public opinion, violating the model code of conduct and undermining the democratic process.

In view of these serious violations, Londhe urged the Maharashtra CEO to cancel Mungantiwar’s candidature from Chandrapur, bar him and the BJP from contesting any future elections and conduct a thorough investigation into the matter to ensure accountability and deterrence against similar offences in the future.

At the PM’s maiden election rally in Maharashtra on Monday evening, Mungantiwar launched a vicious attack on the Congress-INDIA bloc’s allegation of the threat to democracy under the BJP.

He made oblique and vague references to the 1984 riots in Delhi, how spouses were separated, children were separated from their parents, and even alleging that "a brother and sister were stripped naked and made to lie on a cot", etc.

Mungantiwar’s utterances sparked a furore in political circles, earning him flak on social media.