Finally, EC asserts: book Lalji for bribe, BJP should explain

In Lucknow, Tandon was busy in a meeting on the PM’s poll campaign — he was there by his side when Atal Behari Vajpayee filed his papers yesterday — when he was told of the EC decision. His only comment: ‘‘Na dekha, na suna, na padha (I haven’t seen (the order), nor heard, nor read… I can’t comment at this moment.’’

But chief electoral officer Vijay Sharma told The Indian Express that an FIR would be lodged at the Mahanagar police station by the state election commission. ‘‘The draft is being prepared and the FIR will be lodged against Tandon under Section 171 (B) of the IPC,’’ he said.

The EC directive — it also called for the immediate transfer of the Lucknow DM and SSP — has had Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav doing a U-turn on the sari stampede episode. Immediately after the incident, the CM had handed Tandon a clean chit saying ‘‘it was a mishap, Tandon is not responsible.’’ But after today’s order, UP chief secretary V K Diwan said the ‘‘EC order is a constitutional binding on the government.’’

No BJP leader had contacted Tandon until late this evening. UP BJP chief Vinay Katiyar said the party was waiting for the EC notice: ‘‘Tandonji is not guilty. The BJP can’t comment on why the Commission has issued a show cause to the party until it gets a copy of the order.’’

The Congress, on the other hand, celebrated the EC order. In New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Kapil Sibal said: ‘‘Offences under the Representation of People’s Act and IPC can be prosecuted and even the election can be challenged.’’ On the conduct of Mulayam Singh, he said, ‘‘When the CM says such a tragedy can take place anywhere, he is giving a clear signal to the administration.’’