BHOPAL: The Congress has demanded that film and TV actor Rajiv Verma be removed as the state icon of Election Commission in Madhya Pradesh, as he is associated with Sanskar Bharti – an institution of BJP’s parent outfit RSS.
A MP Congress delegation led by Narendra Singh Saluja, the state coordinator for MPCC chief and Chief Minister Kamal Nath, submitted a complaint to the top brass at the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO-MP) office in Bhopal on Thursday.
In the complaint, the Congress leaders submitted that Maine Pyar Kiya-fame film and TV actor Rajiv Verma, who is the state icon for Election Commission in the state, should be removed from that post, as he is the provincial head of Sanskar Bharti, which is an RSS outfit. “Only those individuals should be appointed as state icons, who are not associated with any particular political ideology, to ensure that they promote voting in non partisan manner,” the complaint mentioned.
The complaint also mentioned about removal of Padamshree awarded Kabir Bhajan singer Prahlad Tipania as the EC’s state icon in MP, after he was fielded by the Congress as party candidate from Dewas-Shajapur Lok Sabha seat of the state.
“Since Prahlad Tipania has been recently removed as state icon in MP after being announced as Congress candidate in LS polls, now Rajiv Verma should also be removed as state icon to ensure free and fair general elections in the state,” the complaint demanded.
However, it’s still not clear why the Congress took so long in realizing that Verma was associated with RSS-affiliated Sanskar Bharti, particularly when the actor has been a state icon for the EC in MP much before the 2018 Vidhan Sabha elections in the state.
The critically acclaimed actor Rajiv Verma, who was born in MP’s Hoshangabad district in 1949, is among five celebrities who have been appointed state icons under Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) plan of EC in the central Indian state.