Thiruvananthapuram constituency BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar registered a case with Cyber Police against UDF candidate Shashi Tharoor over unsavoury remarks against him. The BJP leader filed a complaint alleging that Tharoor had made derogatory remarks about him on television and dishonestly tried influencing voters in coastal regions.
Earlier, in a channelled interview, Tharoor accused Rajeev of trying to get votes by bribing religious organizations. In a ‘Meet the Candidate’ interview conducted by Malayalam news channel TwentyFour News, Tharoor alleged that Rajeev had doled out money to voters and offered funds to religious leaders in exchange for votes.
According to Tharoor, he obtained evidence from several sources, including “certain important community leaders and parish priests,” which suggested that the BJP was attempting to sway voters in favour of the party. In addition, Tharoor claimed that the BJP might have spent “20, 30 or even 100 times” as much on campaigning as the other contenders. The whole allegation was based on rumours!
The BJP approached the Election Commission, but Tharoor could not present any evidence against Rajeev. The Election Commission then warned Tharoor about the incident and held that the false allegations violated the election code of conduct. The commission considered Tharoor’s remarks unnecessary since they were not based on any evidence. They rejected Tharoor’s contention that the comments were not directed at Rajeev or the BJP.
Sub-Collector Dr Aswathy Sreenivas, nodal officer for the model code of conduct, strongly warned Tharoor not to violate the guidelines by making such baseless allegations. The commission directed TwentyFour News to immediately stop airing the parts of the interview that make baseless allegations without evidence or documentation, not to publish them in any form and to withdraw them.
Anyone with common sense would understand that Tharoor’s statement violated the model code of conduct, especially since it was against the opposing candidate, Rajeev. Statements of caste and religious sentiments shall not be made during election campaigns.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar had stated that if Tharoor does not tender an unconditional apology in writing, he will proceed with legal action. Tharoor remained adamant. Due to non-apology, Rajeev took strict legal action.
Tharoor must give a clear answer to the allegations. He insulted the community organization leaders of Thiruvananthapuram and the constituency voters. Rajeev said that Tharoor should have considered the future consequences of such a lie.
Rajeev said the MP, who describes himself as a universal citizen, should clarify who he bribed and sought votes. Tharoor is being asked to make this public as it affects the credibility of various social leaders”.
Rajeev noted on social media that seeing a three-time MP stooping to third-rate politics in desperation is disgraceful. Rest assured, I will counter this slander using all legal means, he added.
Tharoor was charged with 171-G IPC (with intent to affect the result of an election, make or publish any statement purporting to be a statement of fact which is false and which he either knows or believes to be false or does not believe to be true, about the personal character or conduct of any candidate), 500 IPC (defamation) and Section 65 of IT Act (tampering with computer source code). Cyber police officials are investigating.
