Briefing mediapersons at the party headquarters, Congress spokesperson Kapil Sibal objected to the manner in which Doordarshan selected the person to conduct the poll and called it a `scam'.

Sibal said that GVL Narasimha Rao was handpicked by the information and broadcasting minister Pramod Mahajan without following any procedure and the Doordarshan had to shell out a sum of Rs 27 lakh for the programme.

Public funds were misused to influence the voters in favour of the ruling party and was timed for the fourth and fifth round of polling, he said.

Sibal said while the Doordarshan spent a sum of Rs 33 lakh for the programme, the return from the advertisments was hardly Rs six lakh. The party also questioned the credentials of Narasimha Rao,who according to Sibal, was only an agricultural graduate with a diploma in management.