NEW DELHI: Election propaganda materials produced or distributed by the Bharatiya Janata Party before the code of conduct came into play on February 21, 2007 were "not relevant" and "can neither be considered nor referred to" by the Election Commission while deciding action on its notice warning ofderecognition of the party and freezing of its symbol.

This technical point was raised by the BJP here on Wednesday in response to the Congress' petition before the Commission . The Congress had charged the BJP with "consistently displaying a course of conduct which — before and after the demolition of the Babri Masjid — clearly demonstrates that its communal agenda is at the heart of its ideology."

The BJP's response was that as the model code of conduct came into force on February 21, only material released after that date could be considered by the Commission. And it had already disowned the compact disc released "inadvertently" by the party senior Uttar Pradesh leader Lalji Tandon in Lucknow on April 3 and the other CD released to the media at its national executive committee meeting in Lucknow in December 2006 "can neither be considered nor referred to" by the Commission.

Denies link to CD

The BJP's response submitted to the Commission here on Wednesday also denied any link to an offensive CD distributed allegedly by Sangh Parivar outfits during the Savrari Kumbh Mela in Gujarat which, according to the Congress petition, "incites the Hindus against Christians and suggests that Christians be attacked and beheaded." The BJP response admitted to several versions of the offending CDs. About the CD released in December 2006, the BJP said: "Some leaders of the party had seen a CD prepared by some individuals for future publicity material. It was pointed out that certain material in the said CD required to be edited/ deleted and the State unit of the party accordingly deleted the said material."

It further claimed that this CD was submitted to the State Election Commission in Lucknow for its approval and it had been returned by the Commission saying no approval was required.

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