BJP keeps Judeo away

The BJP has opted to keep Dilip Singh Judeo out of its campaign for the general election in Chhattisgarh.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has opted to keep disgraced former central minister Dilip Singh Judeo out of its campaign for the general election in Chhattisgarh.

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Judeo, the BJP's star campaigner in Chhattisgarh for the assembly polls in December last year, has been left out from video CDs and videocassettes released by the party for its campaign.

The BJP has also rejected Judeo's claim for contesting from any Lok Sabha seat of Chhattisgarh and it has been shying away from assigning him any campaign duties, said party sources.

Judeo quit Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's ministry last year after reporters of a TV channel secretly videotaped him allegedly accepting cash for assigning mining rights.

The BJP has launched a major campaign in Chhattisgarh with an eye on capturing all 11 Lok Sabha seats in the state. It has released two different sets of video CDs, entitled Bhajpa lao Bharat bachao (Bring back the BJP and save India) and "Feel Good".

Both video CDs feature BJP leaders like Chief Minister Raman Singh, state president Nandkumar Sai, central minister Ramesh Bais and party in-charge Lakhiram Agrawal but there is mention of Judeo.

The BJP has organised over 60 public meetings that will be addressed by leaders like Singh and Sai but Judeo has not been roped in to appear at these rallies.

Sai described the decision not to use Judeo in the campaign as a matter of "party affairs".

"The state BJP unit has high respect for Judeo, probably he wants to devote more time to his home district of Jashpur," Sai said.