Navjot Singh Sidhu gets EC notice for calling PM a 'traitor'

Bhopal : The Election Commission has given Navjot Singh Sidhu a notice over his statement from Bhopal rally where he tagged PM Narendra Modi as 'traitor'. The poll panel has given him a 24-hour deadline to file a reply.

Further action in the matter will be taken by the Election Commission if Navjot Singh Sidhu fails to submit his explanation.

In his April 29 speech in Bhopal, the cricketer-turned-politician had accused PM Modi of being a “traitor” and had alleged corruption in the Rafale deal.

The Bharatiya Janata Party had filed a complaint with the Election Commission as the speech violated Model Code of Conduct.

Before this, a Gujarat BJP worker had complained against Sidhu for calling PM Modi a ”thief” in his poll rally on April 17. Taking to Twitter, Sidhu had also said that people should put a thought in their vote or their kids could end up becoming a tea-seller, pakoda-seller or a watchman.

“Ek galat vote aapke baccho ko chaiwala, pakodawala ya chowkidar bana sakta hai. Better prevent and prepare, rather than repent and repair… (One wrong vote can make your child a tea-seller, pakoda-seller or a watchman),” he had tweeted.

Earlier, in April, the Election Commission had barred Navjot Singh Sidhu from holding any public meeting, road shows, public rally and interviews in media, in connection with the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, for 72 hours.