CD FIR: Rajnath Singh to offer arrest on April 9

Lucknow, Apr 8: BJP president Rajnath Singh along with leader of the opposition in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, Lalji Tandon, will offer their arrest here on April 9 in connection with the FIR registered against them in the CD case. The party is also holding a country-wide 'Jan Akrosh rally' on the day to protest the role of the Election Commission (EC) by lodging a named FIR against the party president to single out the BJP.

A horde of senior leaders, including former deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Venkaiah Naidu, Mrs Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitly, Yashwant Sinha along with the state party leadership will accompany Mr Singh to the Hazaratganj police station for offering his arrest.

Addressing a press conference here, BJP Vice-president Yashwant Sinha said the decision to offer arrest by its national president, named in the FIR, is a manifestation of its anguish over the entire series of events in CD matter.

''Mr Rajnath Singh and Mr Lalji Tandon will give their arrests in the afternoon after a big meeting at the party headquarters and will not seek interim bail in the case,'' he disclosed.

Former Union minister Mr Sinha alleged the lodging of the two FIRs was a conspiracy by the opposition to ''single out'' the BJP as they are finding hard to contain the popularity of the party throughout the country.

''These so called psedo-secular parties are indulging in minority communalism only for the vested political interests over the vote-bank diplomacy,'' he said.

Meanwhile, the EC has sought the BJP view over the CD and party leaders Mukhatar Abbas Naqvi and Ravishanker Prasad have been deputed to place their views at the EC headquarters in New Delhi tomorrow.

Mr Sinha, reacting on the UP police comment that there is no need of the BJP leaders to give their arrest as the matter was still on the investigation process, said ''when the case has been filed against us under the non-bailable sections, it is our duty to surrender before the police. ''We are holding the Jan Akrosh rally to give reply to our opponents in a political way,'' he added.

UP Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Anuj Kumar Bishnoi had lodged the FIR in Hazratganj Kotwali on Friday in the state capital against BJP president Rajnath Singh and party leader Lalji Tandon under sections 153 A and B, 505 A, B, and C of the IPC and section 123 and 125 of the Representation of People's Act. Most of the sections in the FIR are the same except section 123 of the RP Act, which relates to spreading communal hatred.

The EC had ordered lodging of FIR after it found the contents of the CD which was 'inadvertently' released at the state BJP party office were ''communally inflammatory.'' This was the second FIR against the party, as on Thursday, the Lucknow district authorities had filed a similar report with the Hazratganj police against BJP officer bearers and workers.

UNI