DJB office room sealed over AAP letters by EC
TNN | Updated: Mar 27, 2019, 12:02 IST
NEW DELHI: The election commission on Tuesday sealed a room of Delhi Jal Board’s Narela office where a large number of letters allegedly written by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had been kept. The letters detail the work the AAP government has done to improve the water supply in the capital.
Chief electoral officer of Delhi, Ranbir Singh, said the flying squad of the North West district had received a complaint about the violation of the model code of conduct by the CM by writing the letters to the consumers, which were ready to be dispatched. “The squad found the letters stocked in a room of the DJB office and sought our instructions. We told the squad to seal the room,” Singh said.
A delegation of BJP leaders, led by leader of the opposition, Vijender Gupta, and South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri, had met the CEO on Monday. The delegation submitted the complaint along with a copy of the letter of the CM has written to water consumers and photographs of two DJB offices where they had been kept.
Acting on the complaint, Singh said he spoke on Monday evening to DJB’s CEO to ensure that model code of conduct was not violated and government machinery was not used to distribute election material. The code came into effect early this month with the announcement of the election dates. “Since the code is in operation, government machinery cannot be used to propagate achievements,” Singh said.
“The instructions were also sent to the DJB CEO in writing. He assured me that no political material would be distributed through government machinery till the code was in place,” Singh said. “Since he gave us categorical assurance, we are not taking any further action in the matter.”
Sources, however, told TOI that the distribution of letters was stopped in February before the announcement of the election and would be resumed after the polls were over.
Chief electoral officer of Delhi, Ranbir Singh, said the flying squad of the North West district had received a complaint about the violation of the model code of conduct by the CM by writing the letters to the consumers, which were ready to be dispatched. “The squad found the letters stocked in a room of the DJB office and sought our instructions. We told the squad to seal the room,” Singh said.
A delegation of BJP leaders, led by leader of the opposition, Vijender Gupta, and South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri, had met the CEO on Monday. The delegation submitted the complaint along with a copy of the letter of the CM has written to water consumers and photographs of two DJB offices where they had been kept.
Acting on the complaint, Singh said he spoke on Monday evening to DJB’s CEO to ensure that model code of conduct was not violated and government machinery was not used to distribute election material. The code came into effect early this month with the announcement of the election dates. “Since the code is in operation, government machinery cannot be used to propagate achievements,” Singh said.
“The instructions were also sent to the DJB CEO in writing. He assured me that no political material would be distributed through government machinery till the code was in place,” Singh said. “Since he gave us categorical assurance, we are not taking any further action in the matter.”
Sources, however, told TOI that the distribution of letters was stopped in February before the announcement of the election and would be resumed after the polls were over.
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