A petition has been moved in the Delhi High Court by a former Congress MP alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave an “incorrect account” of his poll expenditure in Varanasi during 2014 Lok Sabha elections and has sought his disqualification as an MP.
In his petition, Rajesh Mishra has alleged that the poll panel has been sitting on the complaint made by him against Modi as he is the Prime Minister (PM).
He has sought directions to the Election Commission to probe the allegation against Modi, who is not a party to the petition, that he failed to give a correct statement of the money spent by him in Varanasi during the general elections.
He has said in his plea that while Modi’s poll expenses return filed with the district electoral office, Varanasi, showed his total expenditure to be around Rs 37 lakh only, the actual figure was “far beyond the prescribed maximum limit of Rs 70 lakh”.
According to the petition, which has been filed by Mishra and another Congress leader from Varanasi–Prajapati Nath–the complaint was sent to the EC on June 2 this year, but till date no action has been taken.
Advocate K C Mittal, counsel for the petitioners, said, “The petition was filed on Saturday at 11:30 am. I don’t know why the same has not been listed for tomorrow.”
Prasanta Patnaik