The Election Commission on Monday censured BJP leader Dilip Ghosh and Congress'd Supriya Shrinate for derogatory remarks against the dignity of women.
Their election-related communications will be specially and additionally monitored by the Commission from Monday onwards.
A copy of the warning notices or censures is also being marked to their respective party chiefs for sensitising their functionaries to be careful while communicating in public domain and refrain from any such derogatory comments and violations of model code guidelines.
"You may please issue specific advisory to all party functionaries involved in election campaign and in interactions in public domain not to commit such type of violation as in the instant case, besides following the Model Code of Conduct in letter and spirit so as to not trigger a chain reaction of similar comments vitiating the election campaign," the EC told the presidents of Congress and the BJP separately.
The Commission said it is convinced that Ghosh and Shrinate made a "low-level" personal attack and thus violated the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct.
They have been warned to remain careful in public utterances during the Model Code of Conduct period.
A controversial comment was posted on social media platforms from Shrinate's accounts against Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut, who has been fielded by the BJP as its candidate from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Following a row, Shrinate removed the controversial remarks from all her social accounts, claiming that those were not posted by her but by someone else who had access to her accounts.
Ghosh was captured on video mocking Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee's family background.
He later apologised for his contentious remarks against the West Bengal chief minister.
While the BJP had moved the EC against Shrinate, the TMC had approached the poll panel against Ghosh.
The poll authority told both Ghosh and Shrinate that women have commanded the highest respect in Indian society, past and present, and the Indian Constitution and all institutions of the country have constantly pursued the ideas of ensuring the rights and dignity of women on all fronts and further empowering them.
The poll authority also said that it is duly engaged in strengthening women's representation and participation in the electoral process. The gender gap in electoral registration and voter turnout have vastly improved, and in fact women have surged ahead, it said.
" ... the Commission considers the whole process of conduct of election as a major enhancer of status of women in India and is committed not to allow any erosion of this status in any manner during the election period under its own aegis," the EC asserted.
