Row over Jaitley's house purchase, Amarinder writes to EC

A house bought by BJP leader Arun Jaitley, contesting Lok Sabha polls from here, today became a centre of a row, with his Congress rival Amarinder Singh filing a complaint with the Election Commission, calling the purchase as "part of his election campaign".

Amarinder reasoned that the move of purchasing the house by Jaitley here last week is aimed at garnering support from the people as they have been considering the saffron leader as an "outsider".

 

The complaint filed through Amarinder's Election Agent, says, "The said house has been purchased by Shri Arun Jaitley as part of his election campaign, in what he perceives is a fulfillment of a promise made during his campaign speeches to the electorate of Amritsar".

 

Jaitley is fighting his maiden Lok Sabha polls and is pitted against Amarinder, the Congress MLA from Patiala, and former chief minister of the state.

 

The complaint has been forwarded to the Chief Election Commissioner, with copies to other poll officials including Punjab's Chief Electoral Officer.

 

"It is a matter of public knowledge that in his election campaign speeches in Amritsar and press releases by his campaign office, Arun Jaitley has consistently represented to the electorate of Amritsar that he is not an 'outsider' and in order to remove this impression with prospective voters he has also been promising the people of Amritsar that he will buy a house in Amritsar and will set up residence in Amritsar. He has now therefore purchased such a house in Amritsar," it said.

 

The complaint further says, "The house has been purchased as an integral part of his campaign efforts and strategy to establish to the electorate of Amritsar that he is not 'an outsider' and so this ought not to be an impediment in their mind should they choose to vote for him".

 

It points out that the party symbols, flags and other material being affixed to such house would show that it has been specifically purchased and is being used for such election purpose and campaign.