Guwahati, April 8: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has approached the Election Commission of India, demanding an FIR against the Congress and a show-cause notice to its president, Mallikarjun Kharge, over alleged “inflammatory” remarks made during campaigning in Assam and his “illiterate” jibe at voters in Gujarat and other states.

In a memorandum submitted to the poll panel, a BJP delegation led by Union ministers Virendra Kumar and Arjun Ram Meghwal accused Kharge of violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). The party alleged that while addressing a rally in Nilambazar, Assam, Kharge invoked the Quran and likened the BJP and RSS to “poisonous snakes,” which they claimed amounted to incitement to violence and communal mobilisation.

Meghwal told reporters that Kharge’s remarks targeted a particular community and could provoke tensions. He also criticized Kharge’s comments in Kerala’s Idukki district, where the Congress president said people in the state were “educated and clever” and could not be misled, unlike those “illiterate” in Gujarat and elsewhere.

The BJP argued that Kharge’s statements constituted misuse of religion for electoral gain, promotion of enmity between communities and inflammatory campaigning, all prohibited under the MCC and the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The party further contended that the remarks attracted offences under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including those related to promoting enmity, hurting religious sentiments, and provoking breach of peace.

Calling the speech a “premeditated” attempt at communal mobilisation, the BJP urged the EC to restrain Kharge from addressing rallies or making public speeches during the election period. Meghwal added that the poll panel had assured the delegation that appropriate action would be taken.