Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 28: Kerala Chief Minister A K Antony today indicated that the Congress high command has endorsed the UDF government's decision to seek a CBI inquiry into last month's police action against agitating tribals at Muthanga in Wayanad district. "Everybody has welcomed the decision to seek a CBI probe as suggested by the National Human Rights Commission," Antony told reporters at the airport here on his return from Delhi.
He, however, said he could not air publicly the details of the discussions he had with the AICC president Sonia Gandhi. Even the opposition had welcomed the decision to go for a CBI probe when they withdrew their agitation over the Muthanga incident.
About the possibility of BJP using videotapes of Muthanga incident as a campaign tool in Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, Antony said, "I don't think that they will get any benefit out of it." On senior leader K Karunakaran's observation that in the wake of NHRC's rejection of the government's report on Muthanga incident Antony was facing a situation similar to what he faced after a high court observation in the Rajan case in 1970s, the Chief Minister said, "Karunakaran is the seniormost leader in the party and as such he has unlimited freedom to air his views openly."
Bureau Report