Parties, beware of free lunches for journos

NEW DELHI - Journalists are often treated to lavish lunches by politicians. But with general elections around the corner, can such meals amount to violation of the code of conduct?

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj was visibly irritated when mediapersons shot the question at her during one such meal in the Madhya Pradesh capital.

When told that the Congress could complain to the Election Commission about it, Swaraj, who was hosting the lunch at her Bhopal residence, said she would write to the poll panel to have a code against the filing of ‘baseless’ reports.

‘Some politicians and parties have made it a practice to file baseless reports against their rivals. They have a complete cell, which has no other work but to make complaints which are good for nothing. It unnecessarily wastes the commission’s time,’ she said.

The BJP’s in charge for Madhya Pradesh was obviously not amused at all.