'Modi-phobic Delhi govt harassing BJP workers'

Alleging that an "unannounced emergency" has been clamped in Delhi to manipulate poll outcome, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday slammed the removal of Narendra Modi's hoarding and transfer of station house officers in the city and charged the police with being hand in glove with Sheila Dikshit government in harassing opposition workers.

BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi, accusing the Congress government of reeling under "Modi phobia", questioned the move to transfer 40 SHOs of various police stations across the city though only 19 were required to be shifted and accused the Election Commission of failing in its duty to ensure free and fail electoral process.

Alleging that the rest of the 21 SHOs were shifted to "manipulate the result of the election process", BJP sought revocation of their transfer orders and threatened to move court if Delhi Election Commission does not heed to its demand.

"An unannounced form of emergency is going on in Delhi right now and this is to manipulate the outcome of election and electoral process. It is in this context the transfer of the SHOs needs to be taken up immediately and if the Election Commission does not take action immediately, we will go to the court," Lekhi said at Delhi BJP office.

When asked about BJP's complaint, an official of Delhi Election Commission said it was looking into the issue.

Claiming that Delhi has virtually turned into a police state where BJP workers are being harassed regularly, she also sought to attack the Election Commission for not taking required steps to ensure free and fair polls.

"The government has chosen to make these appointments for directly manipulating the outcome of electoral process. The Election Commission is expected to take action against the government for such decisions by invoking principle of being an independent institution. The failure to take such decision shows collusion between the police, Congress and the Election Commission," she alleged.

She alleged that the objective of the "illegitimate act" of transferring the 21 SHOs was to gain electoral mileage.

"The city government is suffering from Modi-phobia. That is why our hoardings featuring Modiji and others are being removed," she said adding "the collusion between the Delhi Police, Delhi government including the central government is writ large".

Lekhi said the BJP has paid the fees to the concerned authorities for putting up the hoardings and accused the Delhi Police of acting at the behest of the ruling party.

"We have complained to Delhi's Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev. If the Commission does not take action, then we will be forced to charge it of bias," she said.

"What is banned is defacement. One cannot deface a public property under the law. But on an approved site, when I paid my dues, I cannot be stopped. Under the garb of Defacement Act, they are virtually stopping us from running our campaign. Our workers are being harassed by the police. They are being taken to the police station and kept for four-five hours," she said.

Image: BJP spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi