New Delhi:
The Election Commission on Monday censured Congress leader Milind Deora for his reported remarks pressing the Jain community to vote against the Shiv Sena.
The poll body said that Mr Deora, Congress candidate from South Mumbai, violated the provisions of the model code in a speech during a rally in Mumbai.
“The Commission, after considering his reply found it violative of para 1 and para 3 of MCC and therefore Commission censured him and warned him to be more careful in future,” the EC said.
Earlier, he was served with a show cause notice for his reported remarks that Jains should teach Shiv Sena a lesson in the Lok Sabha elections for allegedly cooking meat outside a Mumbai temple during Paryushana festival in 2015.
The Paryushana festival is annual event within the Jain community in which an eight-day fast is observed.
In 2015, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation banned the sale of meat for four days during the festival. The BJP-led government had pushed for an eight-day ban but the Sena, which had a majority in the civic body, refused.
The Mumbai South constituency went to the polls on April 29. The seat is currently held by Shiv Sena’s Arvind Sawant, who beat Mr Deora in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.