BJP starts campaign with promises to bring down prices

New Delhi, Mar 18 (UNI) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today said it would check inflation, bring down the prices of electricity and water and make the capital city safer for the people, if voted to power in the coming municipal elections.

Addressing a press conference at the state BJP headquarters, party leader Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the people of the capital were facing unprecedented price rise due to inflation; burdening power and water bills.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) which was ruled by the Congress during its last term should be blamed for its policies leading to demolition and sealing drives, increasing power tariffs, said Mr Malhotra, the chief of the campaign committee of the party.

Many of the councillors of the Congress were involved in corrupt pracitces, he alleged.

The BJP, which is fighting the 272-ward MCD election with Siromani Akali Dal(SAD), has left 13 seats to its ally.

It has fielded three Sikhs, one Bengali, one Keralite, one Tamil, nine Muslims, one each from Purbanchal and Uttaranchal, declared Mr Malhotra.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, national president Rajnath Singh, national leaders-- Arun Jaitley, Shatrughan Sinha, Sushma Swaraj -- would be campaigning for the candidates for the election to be held on April 5.

State unit president Harsh Varchan said the Congress in power at the state and Centre should not make any declaration about the regularisation of commercial areas at this juncture to woo the voters when the model code of conduct was in force.

Mr Vardhan said that the differences with former Chief Minister Sahib Singh Varma had been sorted out and he would be campaigning for the candidates during the electioneering.

Asked about the impact on the voters due to the candidates fieled by BJP rebel Madan Lal Khurana, he said it would not make much dent, because people knew who were the real candidates from the party.

UNI