NEW DELHI, November 11: The murder of Samata Party (SP) candidate Ved Singh said to be the first killing of an election candidate in the Capital's history has put the BJP on the defensive. The killing took place on the party's own turf -- Mundka village square -- and home constituency of Sahib Singh Verma. Ved Singh was a former BJP activist and the SP candidate from Nangloi Jat for the November 25 elections. The dead man's family has already begun pointing fingers at Sahib Singh.But Sahib Singh declared: ``I will go on a fast till the culprits are booked. I have met the PM, the home minister and defence minister and asked for a CBI inquiry.''
Commented ex-CM Madan Lal Khurana: ``This kind of pre-poll killings happen in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, but such an incident happening in Delhi makes me bow my head in shame.''
BJP campaign committee chairman V. K. Malhotra said his party had received the Samata list of candidates but Ved Singh's (and another rebel BJP man who has been nominated by the SP in Hastasal) name was not in it. ``The leaders told us that they had no idea that these two were BJP activists who were trying for tickets from both the parties,'' said Malhotra.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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