New Delhi: The Election Commission on Tuesday asked the BJP to publicly and strongly condemn a CD which denigrates Muslims and was allegedly meant for campaigning in UP.
The BJP has claimed that the CD, which was released by party leader Lalji Tandon on April 4 in Lucknow, was not part of its official campaign material and was prepared by a junior functionary. The Commission refused to buy this, saying it cannot absolve itself of the responsibility of its functionaries.
The Commission, in a 21-page order, said the statements of BJP leaders LK Advani, Kalyan Singh and Tandon’s had “created a doubt, a genuine doubt, in the minds of the general public whether BJP has disowned the CD and condemned its contents or stand by its comments".
"The party should come out with an unequivocal and unambiguous declaration that they strongly condemn the contents of the CD so that the stand of the party before the Commission becomes publicly known to the country and public at large and any misgivings or apprehensions in their minds arising out of the distribution and dissemination of the CD or its contents stand dispelled and removed forthwith", the Commission said.
The Commission, which is hearing petitions to de-recognise the BJP for the CD, said it reserved the right to take action against the party after the UP Police finish investigating whether party leaders were involved in the production and distribution of CD.
The BJP must condemn the CD "urgently" and give it wide publicity in print and the electronic media nationally and in Uttar Prdesh.
The party was asked to file a compliance report with 15 days. "The Commission would, however, like to make it clear to all concerned in the matter that the matter is not being closed by the Commission with the present order".
The BJP has told the Commission that the CD was a junior functionary’s "misadventure" and action against the party could be taken only if it had done wrong.
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