The Commission has warned Rahul Gandhi to be "more circumspect during election campaigns."
Rahul Gandhi has received a sharp rebuke from the Election Commission which said it "takes exception to the tone, tenor and content" of sections of his recent speeches which accused the opposition BJP of inciting communal riots.
The commission also said that it is not satisfied with the Congress Vice President's explanation of the contentious remarks delivered at election rallies last month.
It said Mr Gandhi has violated rules that ban politicians from aggravating differences or causing tension between communities, criticising political parties based on unverified allegations, and appealing to communal feelings to land votes. (
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Mr Gandhi is leading his party's campaign for elections in the next few weeks in five states including Delhi. The Commission has warned him to be "more circumspect during election campaigns."
Mr Gandhi had said that the BJP's modus operandi is to "light a fire" of communal tension in parts of the country like Gujarat and Muzaffarnagar in Western Uttar Pradesh, where nearly 60 people were killed recently in Hindu-Muslim riots. He had also alleged that an intelligence officer had briefed him that young Muslim men in Muzzaffarnagar whose families were affected by the riots had been contacted by Pakistan's ISI to work against India.
Muslim leaders had accused Mr Gandhi of questioning the patriotism of the community.
The 43-year-old, in a written explanation to the Election Commission last week, said that he had criticized well-known policies of the BJP and that if his speeches were read in their entirety, his stress on the need for communal harmony would be obvious.