Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been given a clean chit by the Election Commission for delivering a speech in Wardha on April 1.

Sources said, after going through the report of the Chief Electoral Officer Maharashtra, the EC examined the matter in detail and found no such violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).”

The Opposition had complained that the Prime Minister in his speech had violated the MCC as he said Rahul Gandhi had decided to all contest from Wayanad because the ‘majority’ was in ‘minority’ there and that he was scared. There were allegations that Modi had violated the MCC as he was campaigning for votes using religion.

The Commission order giving a clean chit to Modi comes before Varanasi — the constituency from which the Prime Minister is contesting — going to polls on May 19, the last and final stage of the seven-phase election.

The fifth stage of the election is scheduled for May 6 while the sixth will be on May 12. Till the completion of the fourth phase of elections on April 29, 68 per cent of the seats to the Lok Sabha had already been voted for.

The Commission was also to examine the MCC violations that BJPPresident Amit Shah and Congress President Rahul Gandhi have allegedly committed during their various election speeches. But the Commission’s order on Shah and Gandhi was not available.

Campaign ban on Azam Khan

The Commission also decided to bar Azam Khan for campaigning for 48 hours from 6 am on May 1.

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