JOIN USIt is alleged that currency notes rained and bar girls danced at the election meetings of the Samajwadi Party (SP) nominees in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur and Baghpat districts, as campaigning picked up momentum in the state.
According to the reports, wads of notes were showered on the people at an election meeting of SP candidate Gulam Mohammed at the Khubbipur Niwada village in Baghpat district, about 500 km from here, on Friday evening. Reports said two bar girls had also been engaged in an apparent bid to not only attract crowds but also to keep them at the venue till the meet was over. The scantily-clad girls, who danced to popular Bollywood numbers, succeeded in achieving the avowed goal. Policemen present there were seen enjoying the dance and shaking a leg rather than reporting the incident.
Responding to queries, Mohammed said two women singers had been engaged for the recreation of people. He denied that notes were showered on the people at the meeting.
In a similar incident, currency notes are reported to have been showered publicly at a meeting of SP nominee from Saharanpur, Shaadan Masood, at Deoband on Friday evening. UP minister Rajendra Singh Rana was also present there, according to reports. The reports said some SP members tried to stop the leaders from distributing notes, but were shouted down.
Rana later claimed that the notes were showered on members of a music band there. “There is no violation of the model code of conduct. Notes were not distributed among the people but only to the band members,” he claimed. UP politicians, especially in the western region, routinely engage bar girls for dance performances at their meetings to entertain people who throng their rallies.