BJP expects ‘objective decision’

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday appreciated the Election Commission’s action of issuing show cause notices to Congress president Sonia Gandhi for her “merchants of death” comment at an election rally in Gujarat and to Congress leader Digvijay Singh for his “Hindu terrorists” remark.

BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said: “We expect an objective decision will be taken at the earliest in the light of Ms. Gandhi’s statement, which is patently violative of the Model Code of Conduct.”

Referring to varying interpretations emanating from the Congress on Ms. Gandhi’s statement, Mr. Prasad said that while Union Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal tried to deflect the issue, saying that it did not target any individual, fellow Congressman Abhishek Singhvi owned up to her making the comment.

Mr. Prasad said it was wrong of the Congress president to describe a democratically elected Chief Minister and government as “merchants of death.”

Also, he pointed out that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had disowned the statement regarding Sohrabuddin Sheikh that was attributed to him by the media.