Jairam Ramesh slams NCPCR's claim on Congress 'misusing' children during Bharat Jodo Yatra
Earlier on Monday, the Congress delegation met the EC and conveyed that no violation of the Representation of the People Act was done during the Bharat Jodo Yatra and children were not used for campaigning. The party also slammed the NCPCR's complaint against it as "frivolous" and "baseless'.
FollowThe National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Tuesday wrote to the Election Commission of India stating that the Indian National Congress (INC) is violating the law by 'misusing children' during the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Reacting to this, AICC General Secretary in-charge of Communications and Congress leader Jairam Ramesh called it a 'complete lie' and said that the NCPCR spokesperson is 'following the footsteps of those who tell him what to do'.
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Speaking to a news organisation, NCPCR spokesperson said, "Congress's Jawahar Bal Manch running 'Bacche jodo' campaign.Children are being involved in Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra in an organised way. Cong violating law by misusing children,we've written to EC to take action."
To this, the Congress leader took to his official Twitter handle and said, "This is a complete lie, not expected from the head of a statutory body even given his RSS/BJP links. Obviously, he is following in the footsteps of those who tell him what to do. We have submitted a detailed memorandum to the EC on NCPCR's bogus complaint."
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The controversy around children being 'misused' during yatra erupted when the child rights body had asked the poll body to inquire and take necessary action against Rahul Gandhi and his party for allegedly 'misusing children as political tools' in the party's march.
According to the complaint, 'many disturbing images and videos have been circulating on social media wherein it can be seen that children are being targeted and are made to participate in their campaign with a political agenda under the slogan Bharat Jodo, Bacche Jodo'.
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Earlier on Monday, the Congress delegation met the EC and conveyed that no violation of the Representation of the People Act was done during the Bharat Jodo Yatra and children were not used for campaigning. The party also slammed the NCPCR's complaint against it as "frivolous" and "baseless'.
Speaking to the EC, Jairam Ramesh said, "Only a painting competition was organised and Rahul Gandhi participated in a prize distribution ceremony. Rahul Gandhi is not asking children to vote for the party."
The Congress also filed a counter complaint against the BJP. Jairam Ramesh told PTI that since the inception of NCPCR in 2007, it is the first time that it is being headed by a 'BJP-RSS functionary'.
