Rajkot: The remarks made by Union Minister Parshottam Rupala around two weeks ago are not in breach of the model code of conduct (MCC), as stated in the report by Rajkot District Election Officer (DEO) Prabhav Joshi to Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer P Bharathi on Tuesday evening.

The remarks have sparked a statewide controversy, with the Kshatriya community demanding the withdrawal of Rupala’s candidature from the Rajkot seat despite his three apologies.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer Kuldeep Arya told the media that a complaint regarding MCC violation by Rupala was received last week. The complaint was forwarded to the Rajkot DEO for a report. In the report, he mentioned that no MCC provisions have been violated.

Three main points explain why the remarks did not violate MCC. Firstly, the speech was delivered at a private event, not during an election rally. Secondly, Rupala did not specifically mention any caste or community in his speech; rather, he used terms like ‘Maharaja’, which are not exclusive to any particular caste. Thirdly, Rupala’s speech did not incite violence. However, the course of action regarding the matter is yet to be determined. DeshGujarat