By IANS,
New Delhi : Legal action must be taken against Varun Gandhi for his communal speeches, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Nitish Kumar said Wednesday while ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retorted that the ‘other Gandhi’ continued to be its candidate in Pilibhit.
The Bihar chief minister said it was his “clear opinion” that legal action should be taken against Varun Gandhi. “I feel he cannot escape legal action in fact,” Nitish Kumar, an important member of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), told reporters here.
He spoke after the Allahabad High Court Wednesday said there was a “strong case” against Varun Gandhi and refused to intervene in the arrest of the budding BJP politician whose communal speeches have led to a criminal case.
Nitish Kumar also said his party was not an advisor to any political party and could not give them suggestions on whether to “allow anybody to contest or not”.
But the BJP was adamant.
BJP spokesperson Ravi Shanker Prasad said Nitish Kumar was free to hold his opinion but Varun Gandhi would remain their candidate.
“We have already distanced ourselves from the comments attributed to him. But he has said that the tapes were doctored,” Prasad added.
Varun Gandhi has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the People’s Representative Act for “promoting enmity” and acts “prejudicial to maintenance of harmony” by police in Pilibhit.
The non-bailable case against Varun Gandhi, who said the CDs of his speeches were doctored, was lodged in Pilibhit’s Barkheda police station following a directive from the Election Commission to Uttar Pradesh’s chief electoral officer.