The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to consider Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati’s plea against the 48-hour ban on campaigning imposed by the Election Commission.
Mayawati had moved the top court against the poll body’s order on the ground that it was “taken under pressure” from the ruling dispensation.
“All citizens have the rights to move about and put forth their point of view. But here, the Election Commission has suddenly given an order which has cruelly deprived me of my rights on the basis of wrong facts. This order will be remembered in the history of Election Commission as a black day,” said Mayawati on Monday reacting to the EC order.
The poll body has imposed a nation-wide ban on Mayawati restricting her from campaigning in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The Election Commission had found her remarks made at a poll rally in Uttar Pradesh. Some other political leaders were banned from campaigning for their “provocative” remarks, which the EC said had the “propensity to polarise the elections”.
At an election rally in Deoband last week, Mayawat had appealed to Muslim voters to vote for the grand-alliance of the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party and not for the Congress to ensure that anti-BJP votes are not divided.
The Election Commission, following a Supreme Court remark to act tough against those violating the poll code, cracked its whip against some of the top politicians. The poll panel imposed a nationwide campaign ban on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and SP candidate Azam Khan for 72 hours, and on Union Minister Maneka Gandhi and BSP chief Mayawati for 48 hours beginning Tuesday morning.