Rajasthan polls: BJP writes to EC against Rahul Gandhi's 'vote for Congress' post on X

The BJP Saturday accused Rahul Gandhi of violating poll guidelines with his post on X on the day of the Rajasthan assembly polls and urged the Election Commission to seek suspension of the Congress leader's social media account and initiate other actions against him.

In his post, Gandhi urged people to elect the Congress and said, "Rajasthan will choose free treatment. Rajasthan will choose cheaper gas cylinder. Rajasthan will choose an interest-free agricultural loan. Rajasthan will choose English education. Rajasthan will choose OPS. Rajasthan will choose caste census." The BJP wrote to the Election Commission, saying his post violates the silence period of 48 hours during which any type of campaign is barred. It accused the ex-Congress chief of violating the Representation of the People Act and the Model Code of Conduct and sought the EC's action.

"The social media platform X and its functionaries may also be directed to immediately suspend the account and remove the aforestated offending contents with immediate effect lest it further violates the 48-hour silence zone and cause irreparable injury to the doctrine of free and fair elections," it said.

The BJP said the poll panel should also direct the Chief Election Officer, Rajasthan, to file a criminal complaint and initiate criminal prosecution against Gandhi.