The court notice was served on a petition filed by Vibhuti Bhushan Sharma and Sawai Singh who claimed that government funds were being misused for the yatra being undertaken by chief minister Vasundhara Raje.
The Rajasthan High Court has issued a notice to the state BJP president Madan Lal Saini to explain the party stand on the alleged use of government funds for the two-month long Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra currently underway in Udaipur division of the state. The court notice was served on a petition filed by Vibhuti Bhushan Sharma and Sawai Singh who claimed that government funds were being misused for the yatra being undertaken by chief minister Vasundhara Raje.
The court after hearing the arguments directed the BJP’s Rajasthan unit to respond to the allegations in the petition. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has embarked upon a 60-day campaign to take the work done by the government to the people before the polls that are scheduled later this year. The yatra was flagged off from Kankroli, Rajsamand by BJP national president Amit Shah a week back.
A division bench headed by the chief justice Pradeep Nandrajog and justice GR Moolchandani directed the BJP president to respond to the charges by August 16. The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleged that the yatra would reach 165 assembly constituencies out of 200 in the state covering a stretch of more than 6,000 km in the said period. The petition claimed that home minister Gulab Chand Kataria who is the convener of the Yatra had said it is a party-funded yatra. However, the petitioners alleged that the government had issued directions to the department of information and public relations (DiPR) to have the yatra covered.
The petition has argued that the BJP cannot finance its political campaign with funds from the state exchequer. It said that Supreme Court has ruled against political campaigns funded by the state exchequer. In such a case the amount so spent on the campaign can be recovered, the petition said.
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