| News Details |
| BJP- PCL bribery incident becomes murkier by each passing day | | NC, PDP, Congress come out in support of scribes |
Leh(Ladakh), May 9,(Scoop News)-Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) and Press Club-Leh (PCL) bribe case is becoming murkier with each passing day and has not died down as both parties are firmly holding their respective positions even though the electoral process in the region was over on May 6th.
Leh police on Wednesday formally registered an First Information Report (FIR) against BJP leaders who allegedly tried to bribe the media persons to project party’s point of view and influence outcome of the parliamentary elections in Ladakh parliamentary constituency.
The FIR was registered on the instructions of the District Magistrate (DM)- Leh, after the court took cognizance of the complaint filed by the journalists of Leh and leaders of the Congress party who demanded a stern action against the BJP leaders under a non cognizable offence.
“We demand a stern action against both the BJP leaders and their expulsion from the party on moral grounds,” said the agitating Congress party activists.
The BJP leader denied that they had tried to bribe the media persons of Ladakh by handing out the envelopes containing money to them during a press conference in Leh on May 2 by the party president, Ravinder Raina.
In an informal chat with media persons in Jammu, the winter capital of the state, Raina reiterated that he will go for a defamation case against the PCL for dragging his name in bribery case as same was not based on facts.
He said earlier his name was changed by the PCL and when he threatened to file the defamation suit it was later withdrawn admitting that his name has been included wrongly.
Raina, however, asserted that he stands firm on his resolve to file the defamation case against the PCL and said that the party has constituted a team of legal luminaries who will be visiting Leh soon to ascertain the facts. He said he was ready to undergo any test including brain mapping to prove his innoce
Registration of FIR against the BJP leaders was necessitated following the court direction and subsequent action will follow in days to come, informed sources said, adding the media persons, after filing the complaint with the local police station besides submitting CCTV footage as evidence to the DM, the action was taken. In the purported footage, BJP leader was allegedly seen distributing envelopes to the media persons after party’s media briefing on May 2.
Referring to purported envelopes, BJP chief, however, said as per his information the envelopes distributed after the press briefing contained an invitation for May 4 party programme which was to be addressed by the Union Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman.
Raina asked had the journalists been paid money after the press conference on May 2 why not the money was seen in the CCTV footage. They did not raise any such issue then and it was only the next day that they created a ruckus on the instigation of a Congress leader turned journalist who had twice contested elections in past and was defeated by a BJP candidate, he added.
The opposition parties like National Conference (NC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Congress Party too have joined the fray and intensified their attack on the BJP for resorting to immoral activities like offering bribe to scribes for influencing the electoral outcome in the region.
“In light of the CCTV footage purported to show BJP leaders attempting to bribe journalists in Leh, I’m re-tweeting my original tweet with the letter of complaint by the Press Club- Leh. Action must follow,” Omar Abdullah, NC vice president, wrote on Twitter.
Omar was reacting to the emergence of a CCTV footage wherein some BJP leaders including the party chief could be seen purportedly handing out envelopes to the journalists.
PDP termed the action against the BJP by the district administration- Leh, ‘appreciable’, stating that such action play a vital role in restoring people’s faith in the institution of democracy and fair play.
In a statement issued in Srinagar, senior PDP leader and former minister, Naeem Akhtar, said that it is non established that the BJP has destroyed the institution all across and is busy trying to do that every day sans any remorse.
However, he said, the stiff resistance by the local media in Ladakh in such undemocratic measures of the BJP is worth to hail and it has made every law abiding and peace loving citizen of the state proud.
He said that it was the BJP has introduced money during the municipal, panchayat and recently held parliamentary polls in Jammu and Kashmir. “But BJP met resistance in the state where they wanted to capture public opinion by use of money. The people here in union have told the saffron brigade that they are not available for this,” the PDP leader said.
Expressing shock and dismay over bribing of scribes, former lawmaker and the Congress candidate from Udhampur- Doda parliamentary constituency, Vikramaditya Singh, has urged has urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the police to launch swift investigations into the case and take action against those responsible for the offence.
Extending full support to the journalists of Ladakh, he said that it was a matter of shame for BJP leaders who are involved in such immoral act and demanded a stern action against them.
“It is a matter of shame for shame for the BJP when its central leadership continues to make claims of zero tolerance and clean governance under Modi led government,” he added.
Vikamaditya appreciated the action of the journalists in Leh who declined to be corrupted or bribed by the BJP leaders and exposed them publicly. He expressed solidarity with the journalists of Leh for their upholding the professional ethics. ... |
| |
|
|
Share this Story |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|