Sheila misused public funds for 2008 cm campaign: BJP

The ruling BJP and opposition Congress in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have accused each other of 'misusing public money' to promote their respective chief ministerial candidates before the Delhi Assembly polls last year, reports HT Correspondent.

The ruling BJP and opposition Congress in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have accused each other of 'misusing public money' to promote their respective chief ministerial candidates before the Delhi Assembly polls last year.

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BJP leader and former chairman of MCD standing committee Vijendra Gupta said that he has filed a complaint against CM Sheila Dikshit before the Lokayukta. He alleged that she 'misused public funds' for an advertisement campaign to project herself before the elections.

"In a newspaper article, a former director of state Publicity and Information Department admitted in 2007, his department started planning an elaborate campaign to help Dikshit overcome anti-incumbency," said Gupta.

"The expenses on advertisement by Delhi government was around Rs 4 crore from 2004 to ‘07 which suddenly increased to Rs 22 crore in 2008-09," said Gupta.

The Congress, on the other hand, accused the BJP-ruled MCD of 'misusing' nearly Rs 3 crore in ads before the polls to project its chief ministerial candidate V.K. Malhotra.

The party said it would approach Delhi lieutenant governor Tejender Khanna over the issue. The issue was also raised in a meeting of MCD standing committee on Wednesday, leading to a ruckus.

"Malhotra is not connected to the civic agency in any way, he was still called in every MCD programme,” said Congress councillor and leader of opposition J.K. Sharma. “Advertisements with his photographs were published in newspapers. This is not fair."