Ex-CM: Looks like a ‘conspiracy’ by BJP
Ex-CM: Looks like a ‘conspiracy’ by BJP
A day before the Supreme Court is expected to take a decision on the Uttarakhand Assembly floor test, the CBI Thursday summoned former chief minister Harish Rawat for questioning over its inquiry into the controversial sting CD where he was purportedly seen talking to middlemen in a bid to strike a deal with dissident Congress MLAs.
Sources said Mr Rawat was asked by the CBI to appear before it on Monday. The CBI had on April 29 registered a preliminary enquiry (PE) to probe the video, that shows Mr Rawat allegedly offering bribes to rebel Congress MLA for support during an Assembly trust vote.
Sources said the CBI has already examined a dissident MLA who claimed Mr Rawat had allegedly offered him '2.5 crores to change sides, and one of his ministers later approached him with an offer of '10 crores. The CBI has already examined the chief of a private TV channel, Mr Umesh Sharma, who did the sting. The PE was registered on the recommendation of the state government and the notification was issued by the Centre. The state is under President’s Rule.
Two days before Mr Rawat was due to face a trust vote on March 28, nine rebel Congress MLAs, led by former chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, alleged they were offered bribes by Mr Rawat for support during the floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly and released a video of the “sting” operation. The sting CD circulated by Congress rebels, who created a political crisis in the state by backing the BJP in the Assembly, purportedly shows Mr Rawat negotiating a money deal with the journalist to buy the support of MLAs who had revolted against him. Mr Rawat, who had been insisting the sting was fake, last week virtually admitted his presence in the controversial sting CD, but said it was not a crime to meet a journalist or an MLA and dismissed the conversation shown in the video as “meaningless”. Alleging that the sting operation and the CBI probe into it were part of a “criminal conspiracy” by the BJP to topple an elected government, he dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah to put him in jail if he was found in the wrong.
Reacting to the CBI’s summons, the former CM said on Thursday: “Be it imposition of President’s Rule, which was done just a day before the state government was to go for a floor test, or the summons, which comes a day after the Supreme Court asked the Centre to seriously consider the option of a floor test in the Assembly, the hurry with which all this has been done shows there is an attempt to influence the floor test if that takes place.” Talking to the media in Uttarakhand, Mr Rawat alleged the manner in which these steps were being taken suggests they were part of a “plan”. He then added: “When they had to impose President’s Rule here on March 27 a day before a scheduled floor test, the Prime Minister came back from Guwahati in no time and even held a Cabinet meeting late in the night to take a call... Now, when the Supreme Court has asked the Centre to seriously consider the option of a floor test, the CBI gets into overdrive. All this looks part of a plan to deny us a level playing field during the floor test.”
