New Delhi, Nov 18: In an apparent damage-control exercise after its leader Dilip Singh Judeo was shown purportedly accepting money, BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu today said the former union minister was never projected as the party's chief ministerial candidate for Chhattisgarh.
"Judeo is being projected by the media as BJP's chief ministerial candidate for Chhattisgarh. This is injustice as the party has not yet decided its chief ministerial candidate," Naidu told a press conference here a day after Judeo quit as union environment and forests minister.
"I want to put the record straight. Judeo was never projected as chief ministerial candidate, neither by the BJP's Chhattisgarh unit nor by the central party leadership," he maintained.
Judeo was widely perceived to be the front-runner for the chief ministerial candidate even though he was not fielded for the December one assembly polls.
The BJP chief said Judeo's integrity could not be questioned till the truth came out from the CBI inquiry ordered by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
"In the hi-tech age, it is possible that the tapes could have been doctored," he said.
When referred to the reported remarks by Judeo hinting that Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad had also accepted money during freedom struggle, Naidu refused to comment, saying he was not aware of the full details.
Bureau Report