Please stop distribution of free saris…

The BJP is said to have claimed to the Election Commission that the party had nothing to do with the sari-distribution that killed over 20 w...

The BJP is said to have claimed to the Election Commission that the party had nothing to do with the sari-distribution that killed over 20 women and children in Lucknow on April 12. And that had it known that free saris were being distributed, it would have told leader of the party in the UP Assembly Lalji Tandon—whose birthday was the peg for the ceremony—not to do so.

Facts show that five days before the function, the sari ceremony was public knowledge. A complaint had already been sent to the Election Commission which was referred for action to the district administration which passed the buck. It reached the local police a full hour after the stampede.

The Sunday Express found this letter in the records of the Mahanagar police station. Written in Hindi, dated April 7, it’s addressed to the Chief Election Commissioner by one Mohammed Saleem of Ghosiana in Old Mahanagar.

Story continues below this ad

The letter clearly says: ‘‘Please stop the distribution of free saris to the poor voters of Lucknow on the pretext of a birthday celebration.’’

This one-page letter mentions Tandon by name and says he is BJP candidate Atal Behari Vajpayee’s chunav sanchalak (poll coordinator).

Curiously, Mohammed Saleem, whom The Sunday Express tracked down in Ghosiana, denies he wrote the letter and claims his signature has been forged. He calls himself a local head of the BJP’s minority cell. ‘‘I am the BJP Minority Cell Paschim Mandal-I president. Why would I write such a letter? Someone here has set me up, may be to throw me out of the party,’’ said Saleem who runs a steel furniture shop in the locality.

If Saleem is to be believed, then who wrote the letter? No one is telling.

Story continues below this ad

But the fact is that this letter reached the Election Commission before the ceremony, a fact confirmed by EC officials and the Investigating Officer in the case, Ravindra Nath Singh.

‘‘The DM sent it to the ADM who passed it on to ACM-II (additional city magistrate) on April 9. No action was taken. We were ultimately handed the letter at 3.35 pm on April 12, 90 minutes after the stampede,’’ said Singh.

Not just the letter, there were ads in at least two local newspapers announcing the ceremony, complete with pictures of Lalji Tandon, calling him a vikas purush (man of development) and specifying the agenda: nirdhan mahilaon ko vastra vitaran (distribution of clothes to poor women).

When Lalji Tandon was asked about the letter, he admitted to The Sunday Express that he was aware of such a letter. ‘‘But nothing objectionable was found (in it),’’ is his comment. But when UP CEO Vijai Sharma lodged an FIR against Tandon, Brajendra Murari Yadav, the function organiser, and others on April 17, he enclosed copies of newspaper ads announcing the function and names of BJP leaders who would be showing up.

Story continues below this ad

Sharma, when contacted, declined to comment saying the matter is under investigation.

While his FIR against Tandon makes no mention of the letter, it does specify the ads: ‘‘Advertisements appeared in newspapers on 12.4.2004 portraying picture of Shri Lalji Tandon (BJP MLA and former minister) and declaring that apparels would be distributed to poor women in a function… it is clear that the whole function was promoted, organised and managed by the BJP and its workers with a view to inducing an atmosphere of advantage for the BJP and to brighten the electoral prospects of the BJP candidates.’’