Kargil mural at PM’s meet irks Opposition

Vajpayee has, meanwhile, taken serious exception to the backdrop depicting the Kargil scenario, complete with pictures of the three Service chiefs and a clutch of Prithvi and Agni missiles, party officials said.

BJP General Secretary Narendra Modi, who was also at the rally, told reporters that Vajpayee saw the mural only when he was coming down from the dais and he immediately expressed hisdisapproval. The Congress today said it would urge the EC to issue directives to Vajpayee and the BJP not to violate the model code of conduct. “They have no regard or respect for the EC and are wantonly politicising the Army despite the EC’s code. They want to show that the Army is with the BJP. It was a public meeting and they were showing the national flag, Prithvi missiles, Air Force planes and the three Service chiefs. This is a violation of the code of conduct as well as an electoral offence,” Congress spokesperson Kapil Sibal said.

Sibal told journalists that at an earlier public rally, the chair Vajpayee sat on had a replica of the Ashoka Chakra emblem on it. “The PM is at these meetings as a BJP leader and not as the PM. These are not official functions,” he added.

Objecting to the BJP’s “blatant” advertisement of the Defence chief for “electoral gains”, the Left parties have sought the intervention of the President and the Commission to ensure that this “dangerous practice” wasstopped.

Accusing the BJP of misusing the armed forces for partisan election purposes, the CPI(M) politburo today said the use of the backdrop was in “brazen defiance” of the Election Commission directives. The Prime Minister by virtue of being the leader of the BJP “cannot be absolved of responsibility”, the CPI(M) said while calling for stern action by the Commission. It has also urged the President to intervene and take firm action to see that the “integrity of the armed forces is maintained.”

Similar objections have been raised by the CPI, which dashed off a letter to the EC.

Apart from the political parties, other organisations have also drawn the EC’s attention to the rally. The cultural organisation, Sahmat, has written to the EC saying the BJP’s actions “violate all norms of constitutional propriety and fair electoral practices”.

Meanwhile, the EC has directed the Central and state governments that no advertisements be issued in the print or electronic media at the cost of the publicexchequer during the election period. In a letter to the Cabinet Secretary and state chief secretaries recently, the Commission said it had noticed in publications and on other mass media “large advertisements at the cost of public exchequer”.

The misuse of mass media during the election period for partisan coverage of political news and publicising achievements with a view to furthering the prospects of the party in power should be scrupulously avoided, the Commission said.

It noted, particularly, the number of advertisements being issued by various government and public sector departments to pay homage to the Kargil martyrs. All such advertisements had been issued at the cost of the public exchequer, it added.

According to EC sources, issuing of advertisements at the cost of the public exchequer and misuse of the official mass media during the election period for partisan coverage was violative of the model code of conduct.

Polls cancelled

NEW DELHI: In a unique decision, the EC todayrecommended to the Karnataka government to cancel the election process in five assembly constituenciesBegepelli, Malleshwaram, Rajajinagar, Gandhinagar and Basavanagudi as the process “has been vitiated.”