Start-up says BJP stole code, party clarifies

The BJP website, which is back online after a two-week shutdown, has come under fire from a web start-up that accused the party of using their code without giving due credit.

The BJP for its part maintained that it had dropped the code after the start-up W3layouts had insisted on a backlink and added that it was a free-to-use application.

W3layouts, based in Andhra Pradesh, posted a blog detailing how the BJP used their layout template in the restored site.

According to W3layouts, the BJP used their "Peek" design, which they describe as a "Landing Page Bootstrap Responsive Web Template". W3layouts said the design is free but includes a backlink to the developer in the code.

W3layouts said that the implementation was brought to their attention by another Twitter user, who went looking into the site's code and found that the party used the template offered by the start-up.

They allege that the BJP removed the backlink code in their implementation, effectively denying W3layouts any credit for their work. The start-up also alleged that when they brought it to the party's attention, the BJP simply removed any reference to the start-up from the code altogether.

A BJP official, who declined to be named, said: ''Their code was dropped after they insisted on a backlink, as it is not something we do in the normal course. We had offered to mention their name but since it didn’t find favour, we preferred to work with an alternate solution. It was a free-to-use application.''