Model code of conduct: When a District Magistrate stopped Deputy PM LK Advani from election canvassing because of Chunav Aachar Sanhita

BJP leaders accused Gautam Goswami for forcing Advani to abruptly conclude his speech four minutes before the said schedule.

New Delhi, Jan 4: In 2004, deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani was taken aback when Patna District Magistrate Gautam Goswami stopped him from extending his speech at an election rally (Bharat Uday Yatra) in Patna. Goswami climbed up to the dais to read code to Advani. The code of conduct read, “Your time is up. You must stop your speech now”. It was a bitter  reminder to Advani for canvassing beyond the prescribed time limit set by the Election Commission. It was Goswami who asked Adavani to adhere to the campaign expiry time as it was already 10 PM.

Advani’s Bharat Uday Yatra was held in Gandhi Maidan in Patna. The incident sent rude shocks to the Bharatiya Janata Party and fumed its leaders and supporters. BJP leaders accused Goswami for forcing Advani to abruptly conclude his speech four minutes before the said schedule.

Who was Gautam Goswami:

• Gautam Goswami shot into limelight in 2004 when he was the Patna District Magistrate and asked deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani to leave the dais saying “the deadline had expired”.
• Born in 1966 in Rohtas district, Goswami was a 1991-batch officer and also a medical doctor and a gold medalist.
• Goswami became an all-India rank holder in the Civil Services Main Examination.
• Goswami, 43, was a flawed genius and miserable victim of an abrasive fate breathed his last on January 5, 2009 after suffering from pancreatic cancer.
• In its edition dated October 11, 2004, Time magazine named Gautam as one of the 20 ‘Young Asian Heroes’ for his stellar handling of the Bihar government’s flood relief effort

Advani’s Yatra in Patna started around 9.30 pm, which was three and a half hours late than the scheduled time. It was that late when Advani’s ‘rath’ entered Gandhi Maidan. As soon as Advani concluded his speech abruptly, he left the dais. Advani told the gathering that when he entered Bihar from Uttar Pradesh, he was reminded of his 1990 ‘rath yatra’ where he was arrested in Samastipur. “At one time I thought I would not be able to make a speech here and would just have to wave to the crowd”, Advani added. (ALSO READ: What is Model Code of Conduct?)

As per reports, it was announced by a BJP leader that earlier the administration had agreed to allow the public meeting to continue till 12 at night. He claimed that the permission was unilaterally withdrawn by the district administration which led to the abrupt conclusion of deputy prime minister’s address before 10 PM. The BJP leader in a meeting has said that Advani was asked to conclude his speech before 10 pm for which he (Advani) had to skip several roadside meetings.