Controversies about top BJP Leaders TEHALKA ARMS DEAL In 2001 then BJP president Bangaru Laxman reportedly accepted a bribe of INR100000 (US$1,500)[30] to recommend to the Defence Ministry[31] for supply of hand-held thermal imagers for the Indian Army,[32] from Tehelka journalists, who, posing as arms dealers, filmed him in a fake arms deal operation. He was then forced to resign as party president, in accordance with BJP policies, and a criminal case commenced against him. In April 2012, he was sentenced to four years in jail.[33] Liberhan Commission findings A 2009 report, authored by Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan, claimed that 68 people were responsible for the demolition of the mosque in Ayodhya - mostly leaders from the BJP and a few bureaucrats. Among those named in the reports were A.B. Vajpayee, the former BJP prime minister and L.K. Advani, the partys then (2009) leader in parliament. Kalyan Singh, who was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh during the mosque’s demolition, has also come in for harsh criticism in the report. He is accused of posting bureaucrats and police officers who would stay silent during the mosque’s demolition in Ayodhya. Former Education Minister in NDA Government Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi has also been found culpable in the demolition in the Liberhan Commissions Report. Anju Gupta, an Indian police officer appeared as a prosecution witness. She was in charge of Advanis security on the day of the demolition and she revealed that Advani and Joshi made inflammatory speeches. Gopinath Mundes Controversy Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde started a controversy by admitting that INR80 million (US$1.2 million) were spent during his 2009 Lok Sabha election campaign, an amount much higher than the permissible limit of INR4 million (US$61,000).[36] Munde also openly dared the Election Commission to act against him for his remark.[37] Munde has replied to a subsequent notice from the Election Commission by claiming that his statement about having spent Rs 8 crore in the parliament election campaign in 2009 was a figurative expression to show how election campaigns have become expensive, and should not be taken literally.[38
Posted on: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 06:05:14 +0000
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