New Delhi, October 29
Congress leaders today raised a question mark on the competence of BJP chief ministerial candidate Dr. Harsh Vardhan by saying that his own performance as Delhi Health Minister during the BJP rule was unsatisfactory.

The three Congress leaders - Urban Development and Revenue Minister Arvinder Singh, Food and Supplies Minister Haroon Yusuf and Public Works Department Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan - mocked the BJP for changing three Chief Ministers during its term from 1993 to 98 and now three candidates in the Opposition to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

"By changing frequent leadership the BJP has reminded people about its regime in Delhi when three Chief Ministers were appointed in a period of five years. It is an indication that in case the party comes to power it would change, at least, two Chief Ministers in one year," said Lovely.

Taking a strong note of Dr. Harsh Vardhan taking credit of making Delhi polio-free, the senior Congress leaders said that the pulse polio scheme is funded by the Central Government which is also led by the Congress for the past 10 years.

"He has no right to claim credit of successful pulse polio programme. It was a national programme conducted under the guidance of the World Health Organisation. The state government has been organizing pulse polio programme even after Dr. Harsh Vardhan demitted office of Health Minister," said Yusuf.

"During his tenure, 60 persons lost their lives due to dropsy and 400 persons due to dengue. Around 10,000 dengue cases were reported during that time. Prior to 1993 there used to be 18 hospitals in Delhi and the number remained same even in 1998, the BJP relinquished power after its shameful defeat in the election to second legislative assembly," said Lovely.

DPCC spokesperson Jitender Kochhar said that complaints have been made to the Electoral Office against the BJP leaders for violating the Model Code of Conduct as their hoardings have no mention of the names of printers.

New Delhi, October 29
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Jai Prakash Aggarwal said the party has almost finalized candidates on 40 assembly seats, adding that no seat has been withheld.

The decision on the candidates was taken in the Central Election Committee meeting held yesterday.

"The decision on 40 assembly seats was almost finalized. Somebody was deliberately trying to spread misinformation by planting stories in a section of the media to the effect that decision on 12 had been withheld," said Aggarwal.

He condemned such speculative stories and said that the decision arrived at on the 40 assembly seats will be announced after the signature of Congress president Sonia Gandhi around Diwali.

New Delhi, October 29
The Delhi BJP has decided to hire a private agency for campaigning soon after the list of candidates is announced, sources said.

The agency will have a different office and have no connection with the party workers. Only the candidates' family members will be in touch with the agency to have the feedback of the electorate's response. The agency employees will work for 8 to 10 hours every day. The payment of the agency will be on the basis of the number of houses they visit in a day. An employee may visit as many as 100 houses per day.

It will take 5 to 10 minutes in each house to give the message of the party and get the mobile number of the head of the family as well as the number of voters, sources said.

Voice campaigning will also be done. In the voice campaigning, votes will be sought in the name of the saffron party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

According to the sources, the idea of a private agency came in view of the central leadership of the party when it saw infighting in the state BJP during the selection of chief ministerial candidate. Party workers may fail the candidate, but the agency cannot do so as it is paid for the job.

The agency will hire employees of different castes and religions. In a Hindu house, the agency will send a Hindu boy while a Sikh boy will be sent to a Sikh house.

In case the candidate is a Muslim, the agency will concentrate in non-Muslim areas. The candidate himself will take care of the community, the sources said.

New Delhi, October 29
A large number of BJP workers of the Badarpur assembly constituency today protested opposite the state party office, appealing to the party leaders to give ticket to a local senior leader not to an outsider.

Ramesh Choken, who was leading the demonstration, said that the party considered fielding Ramvir Singh Bidhuri from Badarpur, who was an outsider.

Bidhuri had recently joined the BJP. In the last election he had contested on the Congress ticket and had lost it against BSP candidate Ram Singh Netaji.

In 2005, Bidhuri had contested the election on the ticket of the Nationalist Congress Party and had won the seat. In the past, he has also worked with the Janta Dal and the Lok Dal.

Choken said a number of senior workers were there in the constituency who deserved this ticket. If the party gives ticket to Bidhuri, who is an outsider, morale of the workers will go down and the BJP may lose the election.

He said that Netaji, who had contested the last election as a BSP candidate, had joined the Congress.

Anti incumbency factor goes against him. In such a situation the party should take benefit and give the ticket who has been working for the last many years for the party.

New Delhi, October 29
A 52-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by jumping from the sixth floor of the Indian Oil Corporation building at Hauz Khas this afternoon.

The deceased has been identified as Tikam Shivan, who worked as an accountant with the Indian Oil Corporation. He was a resident of the Vikaspuri area, west Delhi.

According to the police, the incident took place about 3.30 pm. The police found a suicide note purportedly written by Shivan. The note read that he was being humiliated by his senior colleagues and was given a heavy work load. The police are verifying the details of the note. After he allegedly jumped from the building, he was rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre, where he was declared dead.