The Hindu : Cong. to file reply within stipulated time

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Thursday, Nov 20, 2003

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Cong. to file reply within stipulated time

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI NOV. 19. The Congress said today that it was collecting details to file its response to the Election Commission's show-cause notice for "violating the model code of conduct."

"We will submit a formal detailed reply within the stipulated time," the party spokesman, Abhishek Singhvi, said. Apparently, the AICC general secretary in-charge of organisational matters, Oscar Fernandes, and the party's lawyers are formulating the response.

In its show-cause notice to the Congress on Tuesday, the Commission said the party president, Sonia Gandhi, the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, Ajit Jogi, and the State Assembly Speaker, Srinivas Tiwari, had used a State Government aircraft at least ten times between October 6 and October 12, violating the model code of conduct.

`Caught in its own web'

The BJP, for its part, said the Congress had got caught in its own web of unethical conspiracies. "Now we find that not only the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister but the Congress president herself has been charged with violation of the model code of conduct," the party spokesman, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, told presspersons.

Describing it as "shameful", he said the Congress leaders were trying to teach the nation ethical values when they themselves "are the champions of unprincipled acts."

Referring to a two-page advertisement placed by the Chhattisgarh Government in a Gujarat newspaper on November 16, Mr. Naqvi said the Congress Chief Ministers were turning a blind eye to the model code of conduct despite repeated warnings from the Election Commission. "This is a violation of the model code of conduct as the Election Commission has said that government money should not be spent on advertisements." The BJP would lodge a formal complaint with the Commission, he added.

So far, the AICC leadership's only reaction has been that Ms. Gandhi had used a Chhattisgarh Government plane on October 10 to go from Chennai to Sriperumbudur to attend a function — organised by the Urban Development Ministry — to dedicate the Rajiv Gandhi Memorial to the nation. "It was a Government of India function attended by the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and Ms. Gandhi made no speeches."

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