Poll campaign war: Cong moves EC against Harsh Vardhan

Locking horns over who made Delhi polio-free, ruling Congress on Monday moved the Election Commission against Bharatiya Janata Party's chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan accusing him of making "false and distorted claims" on his role in the campaign when he was the Health Minister.

"The advertisements issued by the BJP and Harsh Vardhan are not only distorted but are contrary to the official records regarding polio cases in Delhi. Such a false claim during the operation of Modal Code of Conduct is not permitted," the All India Congress Committee said in a communication to Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Deo.

A copy of the complaint has also been sent to Chief Election Commissioner V S Sampath by AICC legal department secretary K C Mittal in which the party said that all such advertisements and campaign material that show that Harsh Vardhan made Delhi polio-free should be stopped and removed from the city.

Congress said that Harsh Vardhan has been campaigning for himself and his party through such advertisements which are "continuously being broadcast" on FM radio and are "false, misleading and in violation of Modal Code of Conduct".

Alleging that his claim is contrary to the records, the party said that Harsh Vardhan was health minister of Delhi prior to 1998.

"It is revealed from the records that in 1998 there were 47 polio cases and in 1999 the number was 73. This by itself would show that his claim is false and misleading," the party said in the letter.

It said that had Delhi been made polio free by BJP in 1998, then the number cases in 1998-1999 would have been nil.

"Even in 1999 the number of cases came to be 73 because of the earlier mismanagement by them. Contrary to his claim, the track record from 2000 onwards would show that the Congress government in Delhi successfully made ‘Delhi Polio Free," the party said citing figures.

Image: BJP’s Delhi CM candidate Harsh Vardhan