Election observers halt Rajnath's address midway

New Delhi, Nov 20 (UNI) There were some red faces in the public meeting of BJP President Rajnath Singh at Malviya Nagar in south Delhi last night when election observers switched off the loudspeaker midway there as the meeting overshot its obligatory time limit.

Mr Singh came to address the sparsely-attended meeting in favour of the party's Malviya Nagar assembly seat candidate Ram Bhaj at 2155 hrs. But as soon as he took the stage and started speaking on the issue of Hindutva for around three minutes, the mike on the podium fell silent, leaving party workers and other leaders with blushes.

The observers said according to the Election Commission's directives no public meeting by political leaders could be held after 2200 hrs and as the clock struck that time during Mr Singh's address, they had to switch off the loudspeaker.

Delhi Mayor Aarti Mehra, Mr Bhaj and three corporators of the area were also present on the occasion.

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