Act on Kalyan Singh's praise of PM: President to MHA

President Ram Nath Kovind has forwarded an Election Commission (EC) letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs on Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh's violation of model code of conduct, asking it to take "necessary action", an official said.

The EC letter to the President on Monday says that Singh violated the model code of conduct by praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi and saying that he must be re-elected. As per the letter, the violation of code is a "serious and rare indictment" of a constitutional authority.

President forwarded the letter to the Ministry after returning from an international visit and noted that the Governor should keep away from active politics.

It is the first time since Independence when a Governor has violated the model code of conduct by campaigning for any Prime Minister.

The Congress sought President's intervention demanding dismissal of Singh after the controversy erupted following his remarks praising Modi ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Last month, Singh had said on camera that Modi's re-election is necessary "for the sake of the country and society". He made the statement at his hometown Aligarh.

Singh, a former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, was in power in the state when the 16th century Babri mosque was demolished in December 1992. He quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1999 and returned in 2004. In 2014, soon after the BJP came to power, he was appointed Governor of Rajasthan.