Vijay Goel: Last-minute scare

New Delhi, May 9: Tied in knots in Lucknow, the BJP found itself wrapped in another sari distribution controversy in a key constituency in the capital with the Congress accusing Vijay Goel of trying to influence voters, a charge the Union minister denied.

Delhi police seized 12 saris which were allegedly being distributed in a slum in the Delhi Sadar constituency and detained a policeman attached to Goel as personal security officer and two others.

On April 12, 25 women and a boy died in a stampede at a sari distribution programme held in a Lucknow park to celebrate the birthday of BJP leader Lalji Tandon, who used to be Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s constituency minder.

The incident left the BJP red-faced with the Election Commission slapping a showcause notice on the party and ordering the filing of an FIR against Tandon for trying to bribe voters.

The controversy has returned to haunt the BJP with Delhi police registering a case — under Section 171(e) of the Representation of People’s Act — and sending a report to the returning officer. All seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi will vote tomorrow.

Police said Goel’s personal security officer (PSO) Devender Singh was detained with a man and a woman after they were allegedly caught by Congress supporters distributing saris in the Sita Sharan Jhuggi colony on Roshanara Road. They are being interrogated.

Congress candidate Jagdish Tytler alleged that the BJP had doled out between 500 and 1,000 saris in the area. The party had been surreptitiously distributing saris in the constituency for a few days.

Around 10.30 am, some Congress workers tracking their rivals in the BJP saw some people distributing saris in the slum cluster and caught them. One of them, according to the Congress, turned out to be Goel’s PSO. He was handed over to policemen who reached the spot on their complaint.

One of those detained, Roshan Lal, was found in possession of five saris. Searches in the vicinity revealed another seven. Tytler alleged that the saris had been kept in the vehicle used by Goel’s security men to avoid detection.

Goel denied his involvement, saying it was a Congress ploy to frame him. The BJP candidate said he was passing by the area when “some Congress workers started stoning my vehicle…. I sent my PSO Devendra Singh to nab the culprits but he was overpowered by them and falsely accused of distributing saris on my behalf”.

His Congress rival has complained to the Election Commission seeking Goel’s disqualification. The Union minister was equally quick to send complaints to Nirvachan Sadan and the police, accusing Tytler of falsely implicating him in the case.

Police said the detained woman has named Goel as the sari sponsor but the minister said she wasn’t a BJP worker. “Rather, she is a Congress worker,” he added.

Government officials said this is not the first time that allegations of this nature have been levelled. “But this is the only time when the police have been able to seize the gifts,” the officer said. Traditionally, cash and liquor were used to bribe voters in slums. This time, however, the candidates seem to have graduated to gifts like cycles and watches.

Tytler was accused to having distributed cycles in Timarpur, but investigations by the Election Commission could not find evidence to back the charges.

“On record, the cycles were lent to some people for participating in a cycle rally that the Congress was planning to take out,” the government official said.