New Delhi: Civil society organisations from across the country launched a campaign called ‘#GrowASpineOrResign’ on Saturday, May 11, to shed light on the alleged failure on the part of the Election Commission of India (ECI) to act against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders for delivering hate speeches as part of their election campaign.Individuals and civil society organisations from Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Mysuru have decided to send postcards to the ECI calling for action against those who delivered hate speech, and to demonstrate against the alleged failure of the poll body, The South First reported.Those in Delhi have decided to go in person to deliver postcards to the chief election commissioner.The role of ECI has come under severe criticism with accusations that it is acting in a partisan manner by only cracking a whip against Opposition leaders when it comes to the violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).In particular, the ECI attracted a lot of criticism over its silence against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had recently, at a campaign rally in Rajasthan, delivered anti-Muslim hate speech. Despite a number of complaints and representations, the ECI failed to act against Modi. After much dillydallying, it finally sent out a notice to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s president J.P. Nadda, instead of directing it to Modi. Such notices are usually sent directly to the person who makes hate speech.📢A nationwide call to remind the Election Commission of India of its Constitutional duties and awaken its conscience if any.🗓️ 11 May 2024🕚 11 am#GrowASpineOrResign pic.twitter.com/xdN5E0sf6h— Jignesh Mevani (@jigneshmevani80) May 10, 2024The poll body has also drawn criticism over the delay in releasing voter turnout data in the first two phases of the election as well as releasing figures only in terms of percentages and not in actual numbers. The ECI, for its part, instead of directly addressing the concerns raised addressed a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who had raised concerns over voter turnout data, calling them “baseless” allegations.Against this backdrop, several civil society organisations – including the National Alliance for People’s Movements, Bahutva Karnataka, All India Lawyers Association for Justice, Bharat Bachao Andolan, and Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy – are said to be coming together to take part in ‘#GrowASpineOrResign’ campaign.