Varun Gandhi has to prove tapes were doctored: Poll panel

June 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Commenting on Varun Gandhi's 'hate speech' tapes, Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh has said let the law take its own course. A probe panel found that Varun Gandhi's tapes of hate speech were not doctored.

June 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Defending her son Varun Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Maneka Gandhi Sunday said forensic reports verifying the contents of a CD containing his purported hate speeches were a "one-sided version" and the "entire tape is doctored". "The entire tape is doctored, words have been interchanged...

April 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Outgoing Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami has said that the tapes of Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Varun Gandhi were 'definitely not doctored' and the hate content of his speeches was 'more virulent' than what was aired.

April 1st, 2009 CHANDIGARH - The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) Wednesday urged the Election Commission (EC) to verify the authenticity of the CD containing Varun Gandhi's reported hate speech, and said that the poll panel's advisory against him seemed to have been made 'under some pressure'. 'The Election Commission took an unprecedented step of issuing an advisory to the BJP, asking the party not to make Varun Gandhi a candidate in the Lok Sabha elections.

March 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Sunday defended Varun Gandhi, who has been arrested following his inflammatory speeches, and criticised the Election Commission for asking the party not to field him in the Lok Sabha elections.

March 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Breaking his silence over the alleged provocative speeches by Varun Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Sunday asked his party candidates to exercise restraint while making election speeches and said the Election Commission had no right to ask any party not to field a particular candidate.

March 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Legal action must be taken against Varun Gandhi for his communal speeches, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Nitish Kumar said Wednesday while ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retorted that the 'other Gandhi' continued to be its candidate in Pilibhit. The Bihar chief minister said it was his 'clear opinion' that legal action should be taken against Varun Gandhi.

March 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday backed Varun Gandhi's candidature for Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh as he told the Election Commission that his election speeches that have triggered a furore for their alleged hate content were not intended to spark communal ill-will. Varun Gandhi also got anticipatory bail from the Delhi High Court till March 27 in the criminal case filed against him on the directions of the Election Commission over the speeches.

March 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Varun Gandhi remains the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh despite being hauled up by the Election Commission for his allegedly communal speeches. 'Varun Gandhi is our candidate from Pilibhit.

March 20th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Varun Gandhi, who Friday got anticipatory bail from the Delhi High Court, said in his reply to an Election Commission notice that his speeches in Pilibhit where he is contesting as a BJP candidate were not intended to spark communal ill-will and reiterated that the tapes were doctored. His lawyers argued in the reply that tapes of the alleged hate-Muslim inflammatory speeches had been tampered with and that they were not intended to incite communal feelings.

March 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) should immediately withdraw Varun Gandhi's candidature from Pilibhit Lok Sabha seat if it has any respect for democratic principles, Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader Sitaram Yechury said here Wednesday. If the BJP did not withdraw Varun Gandhi's candidature, it would be established that the saffron party supports 'the unfiltered communal venom Varun Gandhi has poured', Yechury told reporters here after launching the party's election website.

March 19th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Taking serious note of the alleged virulent utterances by the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Pilibhit candidate Varun Gandhi, the Election Commission Wednesday ordered immediate removal of the district magistrate and district police chief and sought suspension of two other officials. According to an official spokesman, the poll panel has directed the Uttar Pradesh administration to replace District Magistrate Mahendra Agrawal and Senior Superintendent of Police R.K.

March 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Slamming Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi for his alleged communal speech and his unapologetic stand, union minister Kapil Sibal Wednesday said there was no place for people like him in politics and he should be arrested. The BJP candidate from Pilibhit constituency in Uttar Pradesh, who is facing a criminal case for his alleged hate-Muslim campaign speech, should be arrested, said Sibal.

March 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Gandhi scion Varun Gandhi found himself isolated in the Sangh parivar Tuesday with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) going along with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the controversy over his inflammatory campaign speeches. 'We have not seen the statement.

March 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Shunning its 'other Gandhi' candidate, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Tuesday that Varun Gandhi should apologise for his inflammatory anti-Muslim remarks but added that it would consider action after seeing the tapes of his speeches. 'We are of the strong belief that Varun Gandhi should apologise.