CD FIRm: Rajnath will offer arrest on April 9

New Delhi, Apr 7 (UNI) BJP President Rajnath Singh will not seek anticipatory bail and offer himself for arrest in connection with an FIR lodged against him in the alleged controversial CD released by the party.

"Since the FIR naming Mr Rajnath Singh, Leader of the Opposition in UP assembly Lalji Tandon, has been registered at the Hazratganj police station at the behest of the Election Commission on April 6 under IPC 153A and 153B, which is non-bailable, it has been decided by the BJP not to seek any anticipatory bail and he will offer himself for arrest on April 9," BJP spokesman Ravishankar Prasad said today.

He said the whole party would stand by the party president and all senior leaders including Leader of the Opposition L K Advani, former BJP President M Venkaiah Naidu, Mr Arun Jaitley, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, Mr Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Mr Balbir Punj and himself would be present in Lucknow at the time of Mr Singh's arrest.

Mr Prasad said the BJP viewed the filing of two FIRs--first on April 5, in which none was named and the other on April six naming the BJP President and Mr Tandon as unfortunate, malafide and political motivated. Besides the manner in which all parties like the Samajwadi, Congress, BSP and others were seeking action against BJP and its President Rajnath Singh, merely demonstrated the ''height of appeasement.'' The BJP leader cited examples like ''the sugarmill owners rehabilitation package announced by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar when the Model code of conduct was in force in UP, Lalu's having been caught in distribution of cash to voters during Bihar assembly election'' in which only a warning was issued but no FIR was lodged.

Moreover, it was the first case of its kind that two FIRs were lodged at the same police stations, within a span of 24 hours, even as the party had withdrawn the CD before even the Election Commission had taken cognisance of it.

The State Government also seemed to have colluded in the whole process with political purposes, Mr Prasad said, asserting that the BJP would come out stronger and UP election would show it.

UNI