NEW DELHI, 10 April 2007 — India’s Election Commission has asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to explain by tomorrow why it should not be de-recognized as a national party and its election symbol lotus frozen on charges of producing a communally inflammatory compact disc.
The missive follows an all-party meeting held at the poll panel’s office yesterday where most parties, including the Congress party, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Jan Morcha and the Left, demanded that BJP be de-recognized and its election symbol frozen. Representing the BJP at the meeting were its Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, General Secretary Arun Jaitely and spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad.
Initially, they sought more time to reply to the charges. But when other parties pressed for an early decision by the Election Commission, the BJP leaders questioned the objectivity of the three-member panel.
They argued that since they had gone to court against the appointment of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, he should not sit in any hearing against the BJP.
BJP President Rajnath Singh went to Lucknow yesterday to offer himself for arrest as part of nationwide protests against the Election Commission’s move to proceed against the party. But the police refused to arrest him saying they were still investigating.
Rajnath went to the Hazratganj police station along with hundreds of his supporters and two former BJP presidents, Murli Manohar Joshi and Venkaiah Naidu, over his alleged role in preparing the CD containing “objectionable” material aimed at inciting anti-Muslim feelings.
However, District Magistrate Ramendra Tripathi and Senior Superintendent of Police Jyoti Narayan, who were present at the police station, told Rajnath that they were not prepared to arrest him for want of evidence against him.
“We told Mr. Rajnath Singh that we were still in the process of making preliminary inquiries on the FIR (First Information Report) lodged against him and Tandon. So far, we have not gathered any evidence to arrest him,” Jyoti Narayan told reporters.
“We made it clear to him that unless preliminary findings were completed and we were able to collect sufficient evidence against him, we could not proceed against him.”
Rajnath left the police station together with his supporters. The large number of supporters led to disruption of city traffic for several hours.
The Election Commission wants a complaint registered against senior BJP leaders for releasing the CD at a press conference in Lucknow April 4.
The BJP is denying any role in the production of the said CD. It was released last week by Uttar Pradesh BJP leader Lalji Tandon in Lucknow who has since said that he was not aware of its contents.
The BJP says it “has not produced, prepared, displayed or distributed the impugned CD. The CD does not form a part of official campaign material of BJP; the CD has not been seen or approved by the leadership of the BJP; the party cannot be held responsible for an unauthorized act of an individual.”
Senior BJP leader L.K. Advani yesterday slammed the Election Commission for filing the criminal complaint against Rajnath over the controversial CD, saying the commission’s move to de-recognize the BJP on the issue was “anti-democratic” and “stupid.”
Addressing a crowded press conference here yesterday, Advani said: “The act (of filing a First Information Report or FIR with the police) was not only anti-democratic, but it was also stupid to conceive that a national party that has ruled the country for six years could be de-recognized on such flimsy charges.”
“I have been closely associated with different elections since 1952 and cannot recall a single case where the Election Commission has gone out of its way to initiate a criminal case against any senior political leader even when their parties were flayed and condemned for committing serious violations of the election code of conduct.”
Rajnath said: “A high level probe needs to be ordered to find out how and why an FIR was lodged against the BJP president, which simply speaks volumes of the motivated working of the Election Commission.”
Asked if he agreed with the contents of the CD, Rajnath shot back, “Well, we have already taken action against a party functionary whose lapse led to this controversy.”
Both Advani and Rajnath discreetly avoided condemning the highly derogatory and anti-Muslim contents of the CD. They simply went about targeting the poll panel and the Congress while seeking to proclaim themselves as some kind of Hindu nationalist heroes.
