Congress moves EC against VK Malhotra's statement

New Delhi: Congress on Friday approached Delhi Election Commission to register a complaint against BJP leader VK Malhotra for his alleged controversial statement that Jamia Nagar and Batla House have become safe havens for terrorists.

Congress leaders including its Delhi unit chief Arvinder Singh Lovely, Haroon Yusuf and Mukesh Sharma met Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev and demanded action against the BJP leader for alleged violation of Model Code of Conduct.

"In our complaint we said it is a clear violation of poll code, and criminal proceedings should be initiated against him. We have also demanded that poll booths in these areas should be provided more security during election," Lovely told reporters.

Malhotra's statement is a manifestation of "narrow mentality" of BJP and RSS culture and BJP is trying to polarise votes by targeting the community, he said.

"Malhotra's statement, that whole Batla and Okhla area is a den of terrorism, I believe only BJP and RSS people, having narrow mentality, can make such statements. Targeting a community in this way is condemnable.

"They are trying to polarise votes in Delhi. They talk of Gujarat model, I understand that this is the kind of Gujarat model they want to replicate across the country. Congress is against any such act," Singh said.

In a counter move, Malhotra too has registered complaint with Delhi CEO stating that Congress has threatened of staging a protest outside BJP office.

"The opposition party (Congress) is communalising the arrest of hard-core terrorists," Malhotra said.

Malhotra, in his complaint, said,"Congress is generalising and distorting the statement and communalising the arrest of terrorists by Delhi police and interfering in the sensitive investigation for political gains."

After the recent arrest of three youths by police for their "suspected terror links", BJP's veteran leader and in-charge of campaign committee, Malhotra on Wednesday said, "Jamia Nagar and Batla House in Delhi have become den of terrorists. Delhi Police finds it difficult to enter these areas."