NEW DELHI: Claiming that party workers had not violated any code by distributing cash during a Holi function, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said yesterday it was a tradition to distribute money during Holi. But with election being close, the practice was seen as an attempt to “bribe” voters and that is a violation of the model code of conduct. Politicians must adhere to the code during the election period.
The Election Commission (EC) sent a notice to the SP leader after his party workers were shown distributing money on a number of television channels. Yadav responded to the EC notice but refused to disclose details.
While saying that the television channels had stirred an “unnecessary controversy” over a traditional custom, Yadav said it was a blessing in disguise for his party as it brought SP into the limelight.
Unperturbed by SP and Congress having failed to reach a formal alliance on sharing seats, particularly in Uttar Pradesh (UP), Yadav said: “If SP enters into an electoral alliance with Congress, there will be nothing like it. But if we do not have an alliance, both parties will still have a tacit understanding.” The “understanding” rests on two parties supporting each other’s candidates, in keeping with who has a stronger chance of winning. Yadad said he was not a candidate for the prime minister's post, adding: “I am not in the race. The prime ministerial candidate will only be known after the results of the Lok Sabha elections are announced.”
Film actress-turned politician Jayaprada is the another Samajwadi Party member to figure in a complaint to the poll panel for allegedly distributing cash ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. A complaint was filed against the actress yesterday by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleging that she had offered money to people at a Muslim religious gathering. BJP's nominee from Rampur parliamentary constituency Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi filed a complaint with the district election officer Friday evening, alleging that Jayaprada, Samajwadi Party nominee for the seat, had violated the model code of conduct by offering money at religious places to win Muslim votes.
The poll official assured Naqvi he would investigate the matter.
Reacting to the complaint, Jayaprada said it smacked of undignified political vendetta against a powerful rival and no criticism could stop her from offering her respects at places of worship.
Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister and senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee yesterday ridiculed the concept of the Third Front and said the newly launched alliance would lack the numbers to form the next government.
“I do not understand the nomenclature the Third Front is using. What is their objective? Is it to form a non-Congress-non-BJP government? Has it ever happened in all these years?” Mukherjee said.
"We can understand a conglomeration of parties contesting the polls. But to form a government, you need 272 seats (in the 545-member Lok Sabha),” Mukherjee told reporters here.
“The Lok Sabha elections are a means to forming a government, not an end,” he added.
— With input from agencies
