The Election Commission (EC) on Friday said there was “nothing particularly wrong” in the speech of BJP leader Amit Shah in which he reportedly described Azamgarh as “a base of terrorists”.
“I have seen the speech myself... He only said Azamgarh. We found nothing much. Our people have also seen the video. There is nothing particularly wrong in what he said,” Election Commissioner H.S. Brahma said here.
“We have given him (Shah) permission to speak and campaign again only after he had had expressed regret over his last statements and he promised to us that he will not do it again,” he said during an interaction with Indian Women Press Corps. Responding to questions, the commissioner said there were adequate provisions in the Representation of the People Act to check the menace of “hate speeches”.
The law clearly says that party candidates and leaders cannot make speeches in the name of caste, creed or community.
“Honestly, as a citizen, I would say we don’t expect from anyone to speak such kind of thing... That will hurt the feeling of someone,” he said.