BJP vice president K L Sharma said the party did not agree with Khurana's view -- stated in reaction to the murder of the Samata Party's Nangloi Jat candidate, Ved Singh, on Tuesday night -- that the law and order situation was deteriorating in the Capital. Samata Party leaders, including its chief George Fernandes, openly hinted yesterday that they suspect Verma's hand behind the murder. Nangloi is a stronghold of Verma; Ved Singh was given a Samata ticket after he was denied one by the BJP.

Khurana's instant reaction to the murder and his demand for a CBI inquiry raised the hackles of the Vermacamp, to which Sharma is known to belong.

However, Sharma declared that he was speaking as the party's spokesman. ``We don't agree with Khurana. The law and order situation is alright in Delhi. If comparisons have to be made we can say a lot about other state governments. No new twist should be given which can delay the arrest of the guilty,'' he said.

He added, ``For anyone to take Verma's name is totally mala fide and we totally repudiate any suggestion that he can be invovled in this murder.'' To buttress his point, he said Verma always moved with security -- meaning that he could not have gone to threaten the Samata Party candidate. However, the family of the deceased said that relatives of Verma had threatened him.

Sharma met the Prime Minister, Home Minister and Samata Party chief George Fernandes today to urge them to give the case to the CBI if necessary. He said there should be no delay in the investigation as this would give scope for levelling more allegations.

He said that according toinformation with the police, the murder was due to a land dispute. However, all angles should be examined, including who would benefit from the murder. (The Election Commission today postponed the election and gave one week's time to the Samata Party to field a new candidate.)

Questioned about the BJP's rivals being killed or kidnapped (a Shalimar Bagh candidate -- another BJP rebel -- has been kidnapped), Sharma said this was an exaggeration and that these were only ``stray incidents''. ``This has never before happened in the BJP's history,'' he added.