Moments after the Election Commission of India (ECI) banned DMK’s Deputy Secretary and sitting Member of Parliament (MP) A Raja from campaigning for 48 hours, the DMK filed a plea with the Madras High Court to revoke the ban. The DMK also requested an urgent hearing in the matter.
On Thursday, the ECI banned A Raja from conducting election campaigns for 48 hours with immediate effect. He was also delisted from the list of ‘Star Campaigners’ of the DMK approved by the ECI. The commission stated that the action was taken against A Raja because of his comments against the Chief Minister, which was in violation of the model code of conduct. Opposing this, the DMK approached the Madras High Court with a petition seeking revokement of the ban. Stating that there are only a few more days left for the election, the DMK requested an urgent hearing in the matter.
However, the Principal Bench of the court consisting Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy refused to list the case for urgent hearing.
The ECI, in its communique, justified its decision to ban Raja by citing examples from two election campaigns he participated in recently. His speech in Chennai’s Thousand Lights was also pointed out by the ECI as a reason it granted a ban. The Commission also warned Raja to be watchful of his comments and to not make remarks that would lower the dignity of women in the future.
Tamil Nadu’s Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo had sent a report to the ECI on the matter after multiple complaints and cases were filed against A Raja in police stations across Tamil Nadu and the AIADMK took it to the notice of the CEO. Taking note of the report, the ECI had sought a response from Raja on the allegations against him. In his reply, Raja had denied making any insulting remarks against the Chief Minister or women and added that the complaint against him is the work of the AIADMK and the BJP that are trying to level false propaganda against him.