Union law Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday moved the Election Commission against BJP leader Subramanian Swamy for “defaming him by filing wrong complaint”. Sibal’s counter attack came after Swamy approached the EC alleging that the Minister had not disclosed his wife’s shares in three companies in the election affidavit.
He termed Swamy’s claims as intended to evoke religious sentiments and “thus violative of the model code of conduct”. Sibal claimed that his wife’s shares were in unlisted companies and he had mentioned the value of shares in the affidavit. Swamy’s complaint was that Sibal purposefully did not disclose the name of the companies in the affidavit, as one of them was engaged in cow meat export.
“Knowingly making a false complaint to prosecute someone itself is a criminal offence. I, therefore, request the Election Commission to file an FIR against Subramanian Swamy and the BJP for addressing this communication to the Election Commission,” Sibal said in his petition.“Arshiya Exports is not in the business of exporting meat. It owns a processing and cold storage unit registered with APEDA,” he said.
“Sibal has given fudged answer to my question of law on why he failed to disclose in this affidavit his wife’s shares in three companies. He has denied that his wife is an exporter. Department of Agri Exports lists Abdul latif as outsourcing his wife’s meat output! CowsIJ,” Swamy tweeted countering Sibal’s charges.
Sibal also accused BJP for massive spending of black money in elections. Speaking to reporters here, Sibal claimed that even BJP insiders say that the party would end up spending Rs 5,000 crore on the campaign. “Those who funded will seek favours. The rich will demand rich returns. There is no free lunch. The nation will be on sale. This is a party for the rich, by the rich,” he said.
Sibal claimed that the total cost of some 15,000 hoardings put up by the BJP all over the country would cost `2,500 crore while the budget for TV spots on various channels would be something between `800 crore-`1,000 crore. He alleged that the conduct of rallies for Modi also include organisation of special trains, thousands of buses and SUVs, gizmo-laden stage, 30 ft dynamic screen with scores of lED screens, besides the cost of event management company.
“I have never seen this kind of media blitzkrieg. `10,000 crore is the publicity campaign budget of the BJP and Modi. About 90 per cent of this amount is black money,” accused Sibal.