To pre-empt the possibility of BJP leaders landing themselves in a soup because of their remarks, the party has sent out clear instructions that they should refrain from making inflammatory speeches
BJP was on guarded in its response to the course of action adopted so far by Varun Gandhi, who courted arrest amid high drama in Pilibhit on Saturday. Having made his point, the Gandhi-Nehru family scion, the party felt, should seek bail and get down to campaigning for his maiden election bid, and let the law take its own course. The party brass has simultaneously asked its candidates to exercise restraint in its speeches.
“The charges levelled against him in the video CDs have not been proved whether they are true or false. He says the voice in the footage is not his,” BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani told newspersons here on Sunday afternoon. This was the first time the BJP veteran has articulated his views on the subject.
Mr Advani chose to go public with his views on a day when the police filed a case against Varun Gandhi and slapped on him several charges, including an attempt to murder, following the violence when he was arrested here for reported hate speeches Saturday.
The cases were filed against Varun Gandhi, senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra and former legislator B K Gupta in the Kotwali police station of Pilibhit.
“While Varun Gandhi has been booked under Section 144 (unlawful assembly), Mishra and Gupta have been booked under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” superintendent of police Prakash D said.
“Besides Section 144, Varun Gandhi and his 13 supporters have been booked under sections 307 (attempt to murder), 331 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt to extort confusion), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) of the Indian Penal Code, Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act and also for destroying public property and rioting,” Pilibhit district magistrate Ajay Chauhan said.
These sections are part of the same first information report (FIR) registered against Varun Gandhi, he said.
District authorities said the BJP leaders had provoked party workers to indulge in violence. However, BJP, Mr Advani said, has already disassociated itself from the remarks attributed to him in the CDs. “But it’s the first time that the Election Commission has told a political party not to make a person its candidate. The Constitution has not assigned such a role to the poll panel,” Mr Advani contended.
The saffron party, after due deliberations, has already rejected EC’s advice. “So far as the party is concerned, we feel that it has taken the correct stand in keeping with the law,” Mr Advani asserted.
However, to pre-empt the possibility of its candidates landing themselves in a soup because of their remarks, BJP has sent out clear instructions that they should refrain from making inflammatory speeches. “I’d urge our candidates to exercise restraint,” Mr Advani said.
The party feels Mr Varun has, by organising a show of strength before courting arrest, made his point. “The prudent thing for him would be to let the issue die down, secure bail and get on with campaigning,” BJP sources said.
As for the reports that the state government had, after taking cognisance of the events that unfolded in Pilibhit on Saturday before and after Mr Varun’s arrest, slapped grievous charges against him, BJP leadership was not unduly perturbed.
“By embarking on such a course, the authorities will only end up providing him with the opportunity to project himself as a martyr. If you persecute him, he’ll sooner than later come to occupy political centrestage,” was how party leaders saw the developments unfolding.
Mr Varun, according to BJP, had acted in haste initially when he approached the Delhi high court seeking anticipatory bail. He then realised his mistake, and took the sensible decision of surrendering before the law. “For a political person, this was the best course available,” said party sources.
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