Murli Manohar Joshi seeks EC probe into circulation of fake letter in his name

NEW DELHI: Veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi has sought an inquiry by the Election Commission into a fake letter being circulated in his name on social media and critical of the party's leadership and Lok Sabha poll prospects.

The fake letter, addressed to another party veteran L K Advani, has been in circulation for last few days.

Demanding an investigation by the poll panel, Joshi told Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora that he has not written any such letter.

"My friends in media called me up and told me that since yesterday a letter addressed by me to L K Advani Ji has been circulated on social media. I have read the contents of it and I am attaching them with this letter. I have not sent any such letter to Advani Ji. Kindly, immediately look into the matter and find the source of the letter, through which it came to social media," Joshi said.

Both Joshi and Adavani, who are among the founders of the party, had won last Lok Sabha elections in 2014 from Kanpur and Gandhinagar, respectively, but they have not got the party tickets to fight polls this time.

Joshi, the party's third president, had said after being denied ticket from Kanpur that the BJP general secretary (organisation), Ram Lal, a Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) appointee, had conveyed to him the party leadership's decision that he should not be contesting the polls.

Advani, who has been replaced by the BJP president Amit Shah in the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha seat, said earlier this month that his party has never regarded those who disagreed with it politically as "anti-nationals" or "enemies" but only as adversaries, remarks which came at a time when top BJP leaders have used anti-national barbs against political rivals on the issue of national security.

Earlier in 2015, Advani and Joshi were among some senior BJP leaders who had strongly criticised the party's leadership after the setback in the Bihar assembly polls.