EC looks into Amit Shah’s controversial remarks

Election authorities in Uttar Pradesh have sent the CD of the controversial remarks by Narendra Modi’s close aide Amit Shah along with the report of District Election Officer to the Election Commission in New Delhi on Sunday.

Sources said the Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh had on Saturday taken cognisance of Mr. Shah’s statement and had sought the CD along with a detailed report from the district authorities.

These have been sent to the Nirvachan Sadan -- the headquarters of the Election Commission in New Delhi, they said.

The EC is likely to take a call on the issue in its meeting on Monday, the sources said.

The BJP leader has sparked a row with his comment that the general election, especially in western UP, is “an election for honour. It is an election to take revenge for the insult. It an election to teach a lesson to those who have committed injustice”.

Congress has demanded the arrest of Mr. Shah for his remarks while BJP has said that he had talked of taking revenge from Congress and his statement was not against any particular community.

The speech came under attack from political parties which accused him of vitiating the atmosphere in the region, which witnessed one of the worst communal riots between Hindus and Muslims in September last year.