Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has landed in a controversy with the Election Commission on Tuesday issuing a show cause notice to him for asking poll officials to 'behave properly'.
The notice was issued to Singh after the Commission received a report that the chief minister had protested against the detention of a vehicle with beacon light and had said that it was illegal on part of the deputy commissioner and superintendent of police to do so.
"You had cautioned the officials to behave properly as you had posted them to the district and had further remarked that the model code of conduct is not a law and I know what the law is," the EC said.
Taking a serious view of the whole matter, the Commission said this was a case of "blatant interference in the election process and amounted to threatening and intimidating election officials involved in the election process".
The EC has sought a reply from the chief minister by the morning of November 15.
The Commission also held that bringing a private vehicle from Shimla for the chief minister's campaign without the permission of the CEO was in violation of the instructions of the Commission.
