BJP LEADER BOOKED OVER SMRITI IRANI’S VIDEO CONFERENCE IN UTTAR PRADESH
EC WHIP Organiser of party programme Udaan accused of violating model code of conduct
Police have registered a case against the organiser of BJP’s programme ‘Udaan’ for allowing its telecast without seeking permission and thus violating the model code of conduct, which is in force now. This is perhaps the first such incident in Uttar Pradesh after the declaration of assembly polls on January 4. The BJP had organised ‘Udaan’ on Friday in which Union minister Smriti Irani interacted and answered queries of women and girls across 75 centres through video conferencing.
THE PARTY’S MEERUT UNIT VICE-PRESIDENT HAD PERMISSION TO ORGANISE, BUT NOT TELECAST THE SHOW
MEERUT: Police have registered a case against the organiser of BJP’s programme Udaan for allowing its telecast without seeking permission and thus violating the model code of conduct, which is in force now.
This is perhaps the first such incident in Uttar Pradesh after the declaration of assembly polls on January 4.
The BJP organised the programme on Friday in which Union minister Smriti Irani interacted and answered queries of women and girls across 75 centres through video conferencing.
The video conferencing covered all the 403 constituencies of the state. A few TV channels broadcast the programme live.
The party’s city unit vice-president Vivek Rastogi organised the programme.
Taking cognizance of the telecast, Jitendra Bisaria, flying squad in charge of Election Commission for Sivalkhas constituency, asked the organisers to show the permission for the telecast.
Rastogi had permission for organising the programme but not for its telecast.
Bisaria then filed a complaint in Jani police station against Rastogi for violating the model code. “The case has been lodged under Section 188 of the IPC for violation of model code of conduct against Vivek Rastogi,” said Akhilesh Kumar, SHO of Jani police station. “An investigation is underway,” he added.
BJP’s city president Karunesh Nandan Garg, however, claimed that the programme was organised after seeking permission. “What can we do if some TV channels telecast it?” he asked.
He said the TV channels broadcast the programme while the Union minister was interacting with women through video conferencing. He raised a question over the complainant’s advice for seeking permission from the state Election Commission for the telecast. “I don’t see any logic for seeking permission from Lucknow to organise a programme in Meerut,” said Garg.
Targeting the BJP over the issue, Congress district president Vinay Pradhan accused the saffron party of paying no heed to instructions of the EC and said “their leaders are acting like dictators and following ‘Hitlarshahi’.”
Earlier, while answering queries of women through video conferencing, Irani flayed the state government on issues of law and order, women’s safety and the ongoing tussle for power in the Samajwadi Party. She also targeted the Congress, while praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for launching many welfare schemes for women, poor and the common man.