M A I N   N E W S

Not involved in sari incident, BJP tells EC
Tribune News Service

A BJP delegation led by Mr Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (C), Mr Balbir Punj (L) and Mr Prakash Javdekar (R) comes out after meeting with Chief Election Commissioner T.S. Krishna Murthy on the issue of the sari distribution function in Lucknow, that led to a stampede in which 22 women were killed in the Prime Minister’s constituency, in Delhi on Thursday. — Tribune photo Mukesh Aggarwal

A delegation of BJP leaders led by BJP General Secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi met the three-member Election Commission panel and submitted the party’s written response to the Election Commission’s April 16 show-cause notice.

Issuing the show-cause notice, the EC had asked the BJP to file a reply within seven days why action should not be taken against it for violating the Model Code by Conduct distributing “largesse (free saris) to the voters” during the election period.”

The commission had also directed the U P Government to file a criminal case of bribery against Mr Tandon.

While asserting that the function organised to celebrate Mr Tandon’s birthday was “an independent action of an individual”, the BJP argued that an individual’s action should not be linked to the party.

To buttress its viewpoint, the BJP cited three court judgements, including Sections of judgements of the Supreme Court and Kerala High Court in a case where the Congress had “mass fed” people on the day of immersion of Rajiv Gandhi’s ashes in 1991.

The BJP pointed out that although that function had been organised by the Congress, the event was called an act of “mourning” and not inducement of vote by the apex court.

Additional spokesperson of BJP Prakash Javdekar and members of Parliament B P Singhal and Balbir Punj were other members of the BJP delegation which met the Chief Election Commissioner T S Krishna Murthy and Election Commissioners B B Tandon and N Gopalswami.

The delegation also complained to the commission about an advertisement in an Urdu daily in Lucknow seeking support of minorities for the Samajwadi Party projecting the SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav as the only “protector” of the minority community.

Mr Naqvi told mediapersons that the BJP objected to the advertisement as it whipped up communal sentiments.

Meanwhile, one Kamran Siddiqui, who is contesting as an Independent, has demanded naming of Mr Vajpayee in the FIR registered in the case pertaining to the Lucknow incident.

He made this demand in a letter to the Election Commission today.