EC to take final call on charge-sheet booklet

SHILLONG: The Election Department has decided to refer BJP’s response to the violation of the Representation of People’s (RPA) Act in publishing the charge-sheet booklet against the Congress to the Election Commission of India.
Following a complaint from the Congress, Chief Electoral Officer Frederick Kharkongor had asked the BJP to stop circulating the booklet since it violated the provisions of RPA.
Earlier in a letter to the state president of the BJP, Kharkongor had said the booklet was published by the BJP without indicating the names and details of the printer and the publisher as per Election Commission guidelines.
“Prima facie, there appears to be a contravention of the provisions of sections 127 A (1) and (2) of the RPA Act, 1951,” the letter had said.
However, in its response on Saturday, the BJP claimed that the charge sheet booklet was not a public document and it was not circulated widely since it was meant for private use by party members.
Ironically, the BJP also said that the booklet was part of the press release of the party.
The party also claimed that the booklet was published before the announcement of the polls and supported its claim with invoices.
According to the BJP, there was no concealment of the name of the publisher.
In view of this, Kharkongor said on Saturday that the booklet, the notice issued to the party along with its reply will be sent to the Election Commission for further instruction and order.
Kharkongor said he would wait for the EC order.
The booklet contains varied corruption charges against the Mukul Sangma-led Congress government.