New Delhi, 10 April 2014

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has admonished Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah for calling Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP’s PM nominee Narendra Modi a ‘mass murderer’. ECI has sent him a letter stating that his reply to its notice is not satisfactory and it has decided to admonish him for his words against Narendra Modi.

A letter dated April 10 sent by the ECI says “your explanation relating to the use of the word against the leader of a major political party has not been accepted, as that explanation has been specifically used to criticize Sh. Narendra Modi personally and not by way of criticizing his Government policies’. Now, therefore, the Commission has decided to admonish you for the derogatory word used by you against Sh. Narendra Modi and has further advised you to be extremely careful in future”.

While addressing an election meeting at HD Kote Taluk of Mysore district, on 23 March 2014, he had described Modi as a Narahantaka (mass murderer)”. The BJP had complained to the ECI against him.