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BJP worries about political fallout
Monday's human tragedy will have its political consequences for the BJP. In their reactions, the Congress and the BSP made it clear that they would extract maximum political mileage.
Monday's human tragedy will have its political consequences for the BJP. In their reactions, the Congress and the BSP made it clear that they would extract maximum political mileage.
Senior BJP leaders were already on the defensive over the Supreme Court's order in the Best Bakery case. General secretary Pramod Mahajan was said to be livid that the BJP's painstaking efforts to build its fortunes in the State had been undermined by the tragedy.
Senior leaders started blaming Lalji Tandon for not taking adequate precautions. That it happened in PM A.B. Vajpayee's constituency would ensure its coverage in foreign media: a stampede for saris does not gel with the positive image India has been trying to project lately.
Both Jagdambika Pal of the Congress and Sunil Mishra of the BSP questioned the propriety of the sari distribution, saying it violated the model code of conduct. While CEC T.S. Krishna Murthy asked the UP Chief Secretary for a report on the incident, highly placed EC sources said that prima facie there seemed to be a violation of the Representation of the People Act.
Sources also admitted, however, there were enough loopholes that a candidate could exploit. Nonetheless, the fact that such questions about the conduct of his campaign could be raised would be embarrassing for Vajpayee.
