Under fire from the Election Commission that slapped him a notice for poll code violation, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Thursday said that he is not guilty.
Singh, in his reply to the EC, said that he had not commented on the model code of conduct, threatened or intimidated election officials during his campaign in Kinnaur. The chief minister said that the allegations were not true.
State Chief Electoral Officer Manisha Nanda confirmed receiving Singh's reply. "I have forwarded the chief minister's reply to the EC," she said.
On November 13, the EC had issued a notice to Singh after it received a report that the chief minister had protested the detention of a vehicle with beacon light. Singh reportedly said that it was illegal on the part of the deputy commissioner and superintendent of police to detain the vehicle.
"You had cautioned the officials to behave properly as you had posted them to the district and had further remarked that the model code of conduct is not a law and I know what the law is," the EC had said and sought a reply from the chief minister by today.
The Commission had also held that bringing a private vehicle for campaigning without the permission of the CEO was in violation of its instructions.
Rathore said the security staff did not remove the beacon lights and siren from the pilot and escort vehicles due to ignorance and they were fined by the police.