Delhi BJP in a spot over saree distribution

MANDATE 2004

A case was registered on Sunday against Vijay Goel, the BJP candidate from the Delhi Sadar constituency, when Devender Singh, a policeman assigned as personal security officer to Goel, was caught distributing sarees at a slum relocation colony on Roshanara Road.

The incident follows a similar function in Lucknow, where 22 women lost their lives in a stampede.

The police said they caught Singh red-handed while he was distributing sarees at Sita Sharan colony near Roshanara Road. They said reports of BJP workers distributing sarees in the constituency had been doing the rounds for several days.

On Sunday, acting on a complaint at the behest of Goel's rival candidate from the Congress Jagdish Tytler, the police "raided" the workers and recovered 6 sarees from the spot.

Goel has denied any involvement in the matter saying that Tytler "planted" evidence to frame him. In retaliation, Goel tried to register a kidnapping case against Tytler, alleging that an unnamed BJP worker had been kidnapped by Congress workers to sabotage the May 10 polling in Delhi.

The Sadar seat is a hotly-contested constituency and Goel and Tytler are evenly matched here.

Goel is trying hard to live down resentment within the state unit of the party created by the exit of Madan Lal Khurana, reportedly due to Goel's machinations. For Tytler, this is a make-or-break time for his political career as he has lost the last three elections from the area.