Complaint against Rahul Gandhi for 'misusing children as political tools'; NCPCR asks EC to take action

The Congress on Tuesday accused the apex child rights body NCPCR of being an affiliate of the RSS after it asked the Election Commission of initiating action against Rahul Gandhi for allegedly "misusing children as political tools" in the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said these are efforts to derail the Bharat Jodo Yatra, in which Rahul Gandhi is participating.

"The NCPCR started by Dr. Manmohan Singh's Government has now become a RSS affiliate nothing less (sic). Pathetic efforts to derail Bharat Jodo Yatra," Ramesh said on Twitter.

The NCPCR has asked the Election Commission to initiate necessary action and inquiry into a complaint against the Congress and Gandhi for allegedly "misusing children as political tools" in the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra.

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights said it is in receipt of a complaint wherein it has been alleged that Gandhi and the Jawahar Bal Manch are targeting children with political intentions and making them to get involved in political activities.

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The NCPCR charged that this is a violation of Election Commission rules which say that only adults can be part of a political party.

"Since there is a prima-facie violation of child rights. Further, use of children as props to fulfil political agenda is child abuse which can have a severe long term impact on their mental health and is against is Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. The commission thereby requests your good offices to look into the matter and have a thorough inquiry of the events and take necessary action against the political party and its members who have been mentioned in the complaint,” it said in its letter to the Election Commission.

The Congress has launched the Bharat Jodo Yatra with an aim to strengthen the party's grassroots level connection. The yatra, which began on September 7, will cover 3,570 km from Kanyakumari to Kashmir over a period of five months.