NEW DELHI, February 5: Former union minister H K L Bhagat this evening demanded an explanation from the All India Congress Committee (AICC) for not giving him a ticket. Bhagat also claimed he was consulting his lawyers about taking action against the AICC.And though Bhagat claimed that Sonia, Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi were the nation's only hope, he said, ``Vadra (Priyanka's husband) did not matter. ``Sonia and her children are the country's only hope,'' Bhagat said. He said for Sonia he would lay down his life, leave alone giving up a ticket.
Bhagat had been especially summoned by the Delhi Congress chief Choudhary Prem Singh to speak in favour of Shiela Dikshit, the party candidate from east Delhi and to end the speculation that he was working against her. ``I have coined a new slogan: Sonia Gandhi ki Jai aur Shiela Dikshit ki Jai (Glory be to Sonia and Shiela), began Bhagat.
But his anger at being denied a ticket got the better of him and he said: ``I demand an explanation from the AICC on thereason for denying me a ticket. Neither the media nor anybody else except the court has a right to declare me guilty. I will take legal action against anybody who claims I am guilty of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.''
Bhagat, however, claimed that he would campaign for Dikshit and for anybody that Sonia would want him to. He said the Congress should not have played the cloak and dagger game with him or his wife. After Bhagat's outburst, the party has postponed till tomorrow the release of their special manifesto for east Delhi.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
