03-23-2009, 01:01 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Varun Gandhi will remain BJP candidate from Pilibhit: Balbir Punj</b>
NEW DELHI: The BJP on Monday announced that Varun Gandhi will remain the BJPâs candidate from Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, a day after the ElectionÂ
Commissionâs order which severely indicted Gandhi for his anti-Muslim speeches and asked BJP not to field him as a candidate in the Lok Sabha polls.
âVarun Gandhi is the BJP candidate in Pilibhit. What I am telling you is the outcome of the consultations among the BJP leaders," Balbir Punj confirmed.
Lashing out at the Election Commission over its order, the BJP spokesperson said the commissionâs order on Varun Gandhi was biased. âEC has no right to give advice to parties about who should be a candidate,â he said.
"We have turned down the decision of the EC. It has no right to give such an advice."
This is the considered stand of the BJP and I am speaking as the authorised spokesman of the party," Punj added.
A short while ago, BJP's Prakash Javdekar also slammed the EC, saying it was not the EC's job to decide who should contest the polls and any action with regard to someone's candidature could be taken only by the courts.
"This is matter of code of conduct. Varun Gandhi has raised doubts on the authenticity of the CD. EC has chosen to give a judgement without any examination. It seems EC has turned into an investigating agency and a forensic laboratory...After receiving formal letter from EC, we will give a view on it at a proper time," Javdekar said.
"This is not the advisory function of the Election Commission...if somebody makes such remarks, this is not the BJP's policy or viewpoint," he added.
While asking the BJP not to field Varun, EC on Sunday said, "Any such move would be perceived as endorsing his unpardonable acts of inciting violence and creating feelings of enmity and hatred between different classes of citizens of India, destroying the social, democratic and plural fabric of the country, as enshrined in the Constitution of India."
Saying it was unconvinced by Varun's explanation, the EC termed his reply a recourse to "wriggle out of the situation which he has created by making inflammatory and highly derogatory speeches".
Earlier today, Balbir Punj also suggested that strained relations between Sonia Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi were another reason for the Election Commission's decision. "There are candidates with criminal charges in other parties also. Sanjay Dutt of SP, who was indicted by the TADA court, and Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar of Congress, who are facing charges in connection with anti-Sikh riots. Why has an exception been made only to Varun Gandhi?"
Punj told reporters that "the world knows about the strained relationship between Sonia Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi (Varun's mother).
"We also know about the proximity of the CEC-designate Navin Chawla with Congress and its leadership. I would not like to comment anything on it."
Meanwhile, the EC has denied being biased in the Varun Gandhi hate speech case. Reacting to the BJP's accusations that the EC has been biased, sources have said that the Election Commission has defended itself saying it will contest any cases brought against it in the Varun Gandhi alleged hate speech case.Â
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Varun-w...how/4303998.cms
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NEW DELHI: The BJP on Monday announced that Varun Gandhi will remain the BJPâs candidate from Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, a day after the ElectionÂ
Commissionâs order which severely indicted Gandhi for his anti-Muslim speeches and asked BJP not to field him as a candidate in the Lok Sabha polls.
âVarun Gandhi is the BJP candidate in Pilibhit. What I am telling you is the outcome of the consultations among the BJP leaders," Balbir Punj confirmed.
Lashing out at the Election Commission over its order, the BJP spokesperson said the commissionâs order on Varun Gandhi was biased. âEC has no right to give advice to parties about who should be a candidate,â he said.
"We have turned down the decision of the EC. It has no right to give such an advice."
This is the considered stand of the BJP and I am speaking as the authorised spokesman of the party," Punj added.
A short while ago, BJP's Prakash Javdekar also slammed the EC, saying it was not the EC's job to decide who should contest the polls and any action with regard to someone's candidature could be taken only by the courts.
"This is matter of code of conduct. Varun Gandhi has raised doubts on the authenticity of the CD. EC has chosen to give a judgement without any examination. It seems EC has turned into an investigating agency and a forensic laboratory...After receiving formal letter from EC, we will give a view on it at a proper time," Javdekar said.
"This is not the advisory function of the Election Commission...if somebody makes such remarks, this is not the BJP's policy or viewpoint," he added.
While asking the BJP not to field Varun, EC on Sunday said, "Any such move would be perceived as endorsing his unpardonable acts of inciting violence and creating feelings of enmity and hatred between different classes of citizens of India, destroying the social, democratic and plural fabric of the country, as enshrined in the Constitution of India."
Saying it was unconvinced by Varun's explanation, the EC termed his reply a recourse to "wriggle out of the situation which he has created by making inflammatory and highly derogatory speeches".
Earlier today, Balbir Punj also suggested that strained relations between Sonia Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi were another reason for the Election Commission's decision. "There are candidates with criminal charges in other parties also. Sanjay Dutt of SP, who was indicted by the TADA court, and Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar of Congress, who are facing charges in connection with anti-Sikh riots. Why has an exception been made only to Varun Gandhi?"
Punj told reporters that "the world knows about the strained relationship between Sonia Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi (Varun's mother).
"We also know about the proximity of the CEC-designate Navin Chawla with Congress and its leadership. I would not like to comment anything on it."
Meanwhile, the EC has denied being biased in the Varun Gandhi hate speech case. Reacting to the BJP's accusations that the EC has been biased, sources have said that the Election Commission has defended itself saying it will contest any cases brought against it in the Varun Gandhi alleged hate speech case.Â
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Varun-w...how/4303998.cms
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