BJP took the moral high ground on the CD controversy, shifted into offensive mode and went a step ahead to attack the Congress and the EC on the issue.
LUCKNOW: The BJP took the moral high ground on the CD controversy, shifted into offensive mode and went a step ahead to attack the Congress and the Election Commission (EC) on the issue. Party leaders alleged in Lucknow on Monday that the Congress was hatching a conspiracy to get the BJP derecognised.
BJP chief Rajnath Singh, in Lucknow to court arrest as part of the party’s country-wide “Janaakrosh” programme, used the occasion to demonstrate that the party was back on the Hindutva agenda. “The electoral emergency of the Congress will recoil badly,” BJP leader LK Advani asserted. He said that the Congress “plot” to get the BJP derecognised by the Election Commission (EC) was akin to the “Congress’ excesses to muzzle all forms of democratic protest and opposition during Emergency”.
It was a day of high drama in Lucknow as the entire BJP brass descended here. An array of senior party leaders, including LK Advani, MM Joshi, Venkaiah Naidu, Yashwant Sinha, Anant Kumar, Vinay Katiyar and Kalraj Misra, accompanied Rajnath Singh. He led a procession of BJP workers chanting anti-Congress slogans, to the Hazratganj police station, where an FIR has been lodged against him for breach of peace, and insisted on courting arrest. Local police, however, refused to arrest him saying there was not enough evidence against him as yet. UP police chief GL Sharma told DNA: “As of now, there is just an FIR against Rajnath Singh. We are yet to investigate the case. Any question of arresting any of the accused would arise only after we have sufficient evidence at hand.”
BJP leader Lalji Tandon is also named in the case relating to the CD released by the party as part of its election campaign material. The CD contains inflammatory content which could foment communal tension.
BJP leaders used the occasion to lambast the EC and the Congress alike. Advani termed the EC’s action and the Congress “plot” against the BJP as “stupidity”. Addressing reporters, he said: “It’s stupid to conceive that a party which has ruled the country for six years would be derecognised… it’s stupid of the EC to file an FIR against Rajnath Singh.”
Advani referred to the “misuse” of government helicopters and planes by Sonia Gandhi during the 2003 Chhattisgarh election, the “bribery” by Laloo Yadav in distributing money to voters during the Bihar election, and the special package for the Maharashtra sugar industry declared by Sharad Pawar during elections in that state. “In all these cases, no FIR was filed,” he said.
Earlier, in a fiery speech at the party office, Rajnath attacked the Congress for Muslim appeasement, driving the Sangh Parivar agenda in top gear. “Who has authorised the PM to accord first priority to Muslims on the nation’s resources? Are all others second grade citizens?” he bellowed, inviting applause from the audience. “If there is any move to grant communal reservations, the BJP will oppose it tooth and nail,” he said, adding: “Mar jaayein, mit jaayein lekin Bharat ki pehchaan nahin mitne denge. (We will sacrifice our lives to preserve India’s identity.)”
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