CEO issues show-cause notice to Nagaland Deputy CM Patton

KOHIMA — The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Nagaland, Vyasan R, has issued a show-cause notice to the state’s Deputy Chief Minister Yanthungo Patton for allegedly inciting village leaders and polling agents to cast multiple votes.

In an order issued on April 7, the CEO said that Patton, who is a prominent campaigner for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, “is seen to be inciting village functionaries such as Council Chairman, Gaon Buras and Polling agents to cast multiple votes and hence interfere with the free exercise of electoral right of the villagers”.

It said the controversial video clip was taken from the campaign speech made by Patton in favour of the People Democratic Alliance (PDA) consensus candidate, Dr. Chumben Murry of National Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) during the meeting at LTC Conference Hall, Wokha town on April 5.

The CEO asked Patton to show-cause at the earliest, as to why action should not be taken against him.

It may be recalled that after the video went viral, Patton issued a statement on April 7, stating that it was “an ill-advised attempt at humour, told in the heat of the moment during a campaign event comprising mostly party workers from different political partners”.

Maintaining that the jest was made in a lighter vein, he regretted “the utterances of poorly-chosen words and further call upon each and everyone to take part in the electoral process during this forthcoming Parliamentary election”.

On Sunday, the Nagaland Congress had shared the video clip on its social media handles, terming Patton’s speech as a, “blatant violation of the model code of conduct (MCC)”.

On Tuesday, national spokesperson and national media coordinator for north-east India, Mathew Antony told Eastern Mirror that the party has already taken steps.

He confirmed that they had lodged a complaint with the Election Commission, detailing their apprehensions regarding Patton’s electoral misconduct.

“We believe that the Election Commission of India will conduct fair elections in accordance with the Constitution and will remain impartial in addressing any electoral misconduct, regardless of political affiliations,” he said, emphasising the importance of maintaining the integrity of the electoral process.