oppn parties Politicians Must Be Put On A Verbal Leash During Electioneering

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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
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Politicians Must Be Put On A Verbal Leash During Electioneering

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-02-17 13:54:18

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

The overall decline in public discourse in India shows its ugliest face during election campaigns. Close on the heels of the utterly gross remark on Rahul Gandhi's parentage by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma come the controversial statement by Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi who exhorted voters in Punjab to keep "bhaiyyas" from UP and Bihar out of the state.

Sarma made the foul remark while campaigning in UP. He was worked up that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress had demanded proof of the surgical strikes by the Indian Army in Pakistan. He said that if the people do not demand the proof whether Rahul is actually the son of late Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi, why does he demand proof of everything, especially something vouched for by the Army. How, pray, are the two things related? Even by the leeway granted to politicians during election campaigns, this was one of the worst remarks one has heard in a long time. But such is the standard of public discourse in India that politicians do not think twice before unleashing the worst of abuse.

Channi, on the other hand, thinks that Punjab belongs only to the Punjabis. Does he know that migrant labour from Bihar and UP are the ones who provide yeoman's service on the fields and help in Punjab being the granary of India? Does he know that Punjabis from all walks of life have migrated to other states (and even abroad) in large numbers and are flourishing and well respected wherever they have settled? In any case, India, including Punjab, is for all Indians irrespective of where they come from. Instead of talking about desh jodo, Channi was indulging in desh todo by instigating the Punjab voters against people from UP and Bihar.

Enough is enough. Such unparliamentary language should be banned even during election campaigns. Politicians must learn to be civil and must not make personal attacks and remarks that disparage a community or a class of people during election campaigning. It is shameful that politicians who are expected to lead by example are becoming the worst examples of all that is wrong. The Election Commission has turned into a toothless body and cannot be expected to control this as it had done nothing about inflammatory hate speeches in the past. Banning a star campaigner for a few days is not the solution. Such speeches should be banned and if made, the person should be made to immediately relinquish all posts he or she holds and be barred from contesting elections for 5 years. An independent body headed by a retired Supreme Court judge and comprising of civil society representatives must decide who crosses the limit as per well-defined parameters. The attitude of anything goes during electioneering must be discarded. 

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