Respond on show cause by Friday, EC tells Rahul

The Election Commission on Thursday gave another extension till Friday evening to Congress President Rahul Gandhi to respond to its show cause notice issued over his remark that the Narendra Modi government had enacted a new law which permitted tribals to be shot.

"With reference to the request received for extension, the commission has given Rahul Gandhi, President INC (Indian National Congress), time to file the reply by evening of May 10, 2019 in response to the notice issued to him by Election Commission dated May 1, 2019," the poll panel said. 

Citing Gandhi's speech in Madhya Pradesh's Shahdol on April 23, the poll panel had issued him a show-cause notice highlighting a provision of the Model Code of Conduct which bars "unverified" allegations against political opponents. 

This was the second extension granted by the commission to Gandhi. 

The Congress President had sought time till this weekend to respond to the notice when he failed to reply on May 7 -- the earlier date fixed by him. 
IANS