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BJP sees red, threatens to move EC on Sonia rally

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI AUG. 23. Coming down heavily on the Sheila Dikshit Government, the BJP national spokesman and South Delhi MP, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, today charged the Delhi Government with misusing official machinery for political considerations by converting the official function of inauguration of an indoor stadium at Bawana in North-West Delhi into a Congress rally. The party threatened to approach the Election Commission on the issue.

Addressing a joint Press conference along with the Delhi BJP president, Madan Lal Khurana, the South Delhi MP said the foundation stone of the stadium, which had been named after the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, had been laid by the Union Human Resource Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi, during Sahib Singh Verma's tenure as Chief Minister of Delhi. He alleged that nearly Rs. 20 crores had been spent on the advertisements and the inaugural function by the Delhi Government which was a blatant misuse of official machinery at a time when Assembly elections were barely a few months away.

Mr. Malhotra said the massive diversion of funds for political purposes was a serious violation and the party would lodge a complaint with the Delhi Lieutenant-Governor, Vijai Kapoor and the Union Home Minister, L.K. Advani, on the issue. He said the BJP would also take up the matter with the Election Commission as the Congress Government had spent the money to benefit the party in view of the Assembly polls. While pointing out that most of the Delhi roads were in bad shape due to negligence of the Government, the BJP spokesman said if the amount spent on publicity and ad campaign of the Chief Minister during the last few years had been spent on repair of roads, things would have been different.

Mr. Khurana also accused the Congress Government of indulging in immorality in organising the function. He said while the name of the Development Minister, Haroon Yusuf and the local MLA, Surinder Kumar had been prominently put out in the advertisements issued for the occasion, there was no mention of the name of Outer Delhi MP, Sahib Singh Verma, who was also a Minister in the Central Government. In fact, Mr. Verma had been instrumental in getting this project started and the Congress has "stooped to a new low" by not acknowledging this fact and putting his name at the rightful place.

He also termed as unfortunate the opposition of the Congress president to the Statehood Bill and said the people of Delhi would not forgive the Congress for adopting such a stand. The Congress, he said, was trying to sabotage the whole concept and it showed its increasing frustration in view of the Assembly polls.

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