Lucknow, April 9
Senior BJP leader L.K. Advani today conceded that his party was gaining political mileage out of the CD controversy. “If the government makes mistakes, it is our duty to point it out and make an issue of it”.

Accusing the Congress of indulging in “electoral emergency” by conspiring to eliminate the BJP from the political landscape on the controversial CD case, Advani said the Congress was not ready to face the challenge of a BJP comeback in a democratic fashion.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP state headquarters, Advani admitted that he was not one bit worried by the controversy as his party was set to gain from such “mistakes of the government”.

Earlier in the day, life in the downtown area of Hazratganj came to a complete halt as Advani, along with BJP president Rajnath Singh and senior leaders Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Lalji Tandon arrived at the Hazratganj police station with a large number of party members to lodge their protest and to offer arrest of the party president in connection with the CD case.

But the police refused to oblige them. Giving reasons for the police not arresting the leaders today, DGP G.L. Sharma said investigations were going on and evidence was being collected.

Substantiating this, Senior Superintendent of Police Jyoti Narayan admitted that till now the police had not come across any evidence to arrest Rajnath Singh in the case.

“Investigations are on. As of now there is no evidence against Singh and so we did not arrest him,” he said. He said the CD had been sent for forensic tests.

Two non-bailable FIRs had been lodged in the CD case. While one is against unnamed office-bearers, the second filed on the direction of the Election Commission specifically names BJP president Rajnath Singh and UP Leader of the Opposition Lalji Tandon.