There was uproar over PM Modi’s speech, 700 veterans complained to the Election Commission, are fair elections in danger?

New Delhi, 21 April 2026: Amidst the excitement of the 2026 assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Address to the Nation’ given on April 18 has now turned into a big legal and political controversy. More than 700 eminent citizens of the country, including former bureaucrats, journalists, academicians and social workers, have written a strong letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. The direct allegation of these complainants is that this address of the PM is a clear violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). He says that an attempt has been made to give advantage to the ruling party in the elections by using government platforms, which is an alarm bell for democracy.

‘Election’ attack on government TV!

The root of the controversy is the speech aired at 8:30 pm on April 18, in which PM Modi fiercely cornered opposition parties like Congress, TMC, DMK and SP on the issue of Women’s Reservation Bill. He appealed to the women to ask the opposition to apologize for this step. The complainants argue that giving such biased address on government mediums like Doordarshan, Sansad TV and All India Radio is completely wrong. This happened at a time when the election process is going on in states like Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and the results are to be declared on May 4.

Violation of code of conduct?

The rules of the election code of conduct are very clear—no minister can use his official position for political campaigning during elections. Using government machinery or media for the benefit of any one party is completely prohibited. The complaint said that the Prime Minister has tried to take electoral advantage in the name of ‘national interest’, which is a direct misuse of government resources. Intellectuals have asked the Election Commission a question whether elections in the country will be conducted only with such impartiality?

Opposition should also get equal opportunity

In this letter sent on April 20, it has been demanded that this entire matter should be thoroughly investigated. If any violation of the code of conduct is found, this speech should be immediately removed from all platforms and legal action should be taken against the responsible officials. Also, an interesting demand has been made that if the Election Commission had allowed this broadcast to the PM, then the opposition parties should also be given equal time to present their views on the government media. This letter also directly questions the independence of the Election Commission and its functioning.

These big names are among those who complained

The voice of this protest is also loud because it includes the most respected people of the country. Among those who signed the complaint letter are former Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, Yogendra Yadav, economists Parakala Prabhakar and Jayati Ghosh, renowned musician TM Krishna and senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta. Apart from these, around 700 stalwarts like Anjali Bhardwaj, Harsh Mander, Zoya Hassan and former ambassador Madhu Bhaduri have made this complaint an issue of national debate.

Earthquake in political circles

This is not the first time that questions have been raised on the Prime Minister’s words. CPI Rajya Sabha MP P. Sandosh Kumar has also filed a separate complaint. At the same time, leaders like Mahua Moitra and Manoj Jha have opened a front on this issue on social media. However, BJP has also made complaints while hitting back at the opposition in the context of Bengal elections, but till now the Election Commission has maintained silence on the PM’s address. Now it remains to be seen whether the Commission takes any strict action on this or leaves it as mere ‘election noise’.