Earlier on Monday, Chief Minister Adityanath was served the notice for his "Ali" and "Bajrang Bali" remarks while addressing a rally in Meerut. The Election Commission order to bar these leaders came within few hours of the Supreme Court taking note of the communal remarks by them during their Lok Sabha poll campaigns and asking the poll watchdog about the action it has initiated against the leaders.
He compared the Lok Sabha elections to a contest between 'Ali', a revered figure in Islam, and Bajrang Bali (another name of the Hindu god Hanuman). In its order, the commission said, it "strongly condemns" the impugned statement made by the UP chief minister and "censured" him for "misconduct".
Using its constitutional powers under Article 324 of the Constitution, the EC barred him from "holding any public meetings, public processions, public rallies, road shows and interviews, public utterances in media (print, electronic and social media) in connection with the ongoing elections for 72 hours (three days) from 6.00 am on April 16."
According to EC officials, this is for the first time an all-India ban has been imposed on politicians to campaign in elections and also it is for the first time such a restriction has been put against a chief minister.