New Delhi, Nov 16: Facing an embarrassing allegation of bribery against a Union Minister, the BJP today described as "fabricated and conspiracy" a report in a leading daily here purportedly showing its chief ministerial candidate in Chhattisgarh Dilip Singh Judeo allegedly accepting money for giving mining rights to a company. "As apprehended by us, the congress has done this. Facing imminent defeat in the coming assembly elections in four states, it has resorted to this kind of tactic," party spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters here.

"This is nothing but a clear case of maligning our leaders and the election commission must look into this by conducting a thorough probe into the entire issue," he said.


This was a serious matter and showed to what extent Congress could go to malign its opponents, Naqvi said adding, "in a bid to paint a bad picture of its political opponents, it is indulging in these kind of acts."
He said, "Jogi, who is already facing charges of forging documents, can go to any extent to bring down his rivals. We have cautioned our cadres to be beware of such tactics and counter these effectively."

In Raipur, Chhatisgarh BJP chief Raman Singh accused Congress of hatching a conspiracy to tarnish the party's image before assembly elections by levelling such allegations.

"I have already spoken to Judeo and he had said that he had nothing to do with it. The allegation is totally baseless," he said.

Repeated calls to the residence of Judeo, nearly 400 kms from Raipur, did not bear fruit as his staff said the minister was not at home.
Naqvi said that the best course of action would be for the Election Commision to intervene and put an immediate halt to publication and telecast of such reports besides ordering a high-level probe.

"If the Election Commission wants, the CBI can be involved in it," he said.

Bureau Report