'It was Sonia who communalised campaign in Gujarat' : BJP

New Delhi, Dec 11 (UNI) The BJP today mocked at the reply of Congress President Sonia Gandhi to the Election Commission that her remark of 'merchant of death' was aimed at the system in Gujarat and not against any individual.

On the reply of Congress President filed before the Election Commission today, BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said he could understand the flip-flops of the Congress because it was not Ms Gandhi's fault but that of her script writer.

This was the reason there had been a changeover and contradictory statements emerging from two different Congress lawyers -- Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi, he added.

The BJP wanted the election plan to be on development but it was Ms Gandhi who deviated and vitiated to communalise this poll campaign, Mr Rudy said.

In a related development, BJP Deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Vijay Kumar Malhotra clarified before the Election Commission that he had only stated that there was an element of bias in the public comments of Ms Gandhi, compared to her comments concerning minority community.

"I was making a political point in a debate or questions relating to differing standards on secularism. There is no violation of model code of conduct since the statement was made in Parliament House in Delhi where model code of conduct is not applicable,'' he asserted.

UNI