Tehelka: Full blown political war between BJP and Congress

Law Minister Sibal hit back at the BJP and RSS, accusing them of vilifying his name

 

The Tehelka issue alongwith its founder editor Tarun Tejpal, has escalated into a full blown political war with BJP and Congress senior leaders trading charges. While Tarun Tejpal has already alleged that the BJP and its Goa chief minister have deliberately been targeting him to settle scores, it was senior leader Sushma Swaraj who kicked up a storm today with her early morning tweet.

Swaraj using her twitter account  @SushmaSwarajbjp said,“Union Cabinet Minister who is the founder and patron of Tehelka is shielding Tarun Tejpal”. Within hours of that tweet Cabinet minister Kapil Sibal hit back lashing out at Opposition leaders who are "tangentially talking about me should name me if they have the courage."     

Accusing the BJP and RSS of defaming him, Sibal categorically stated that he did not own any shares in Tehelka.

Dismissing the purported stake in the magazine, "I don't even have a single share. No share has ever been allotted to me."

The minister appealed that his family should not be dragged into this mudslinging. He referred to an SMS that has been doing the rounds which claims that Tejpal’s mother is the real sister of Kapil Sibal. Sibal said, “Now, I am sorry, I did not expect the RSS and the BJP to stoop to this level. They can attack me politically, but they should not bring my family into it.” The minister clarified that he has only one sister, Asha Nanda, who lives in Maharani Bagh in New Delhi. “I have no other sister,” he said.

Speaking to reporters Sibal elaborated that Opposition parties should not reduce the general election to “a life-long patent for lies. Maybe the RSS has that life-long pattern, but at least the Leader of the Opposition ( Swaraj) should not apply for the licence of that patent.”

While the Congress party has on several occasions officially stated that it found no material difference between the Narendra Modi stalking issue and the Tehelka issue a s both were violations of women, nonetheless the party has snubbed the alacrity of the Goa CM. Union minister Jayanthi Natarajan was on record to state “While I'm on the side of the journalist, I also want to point out, this is nothing but politics. Is this how the Goa Chief Minister tracks every rape case?”

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar however has rejected allegations that he was interfering with the probe. “I am the administrator of the state. As Chief Minister of the state my job is to ensure justice to the girl...If what she says has legal support to ensure that justice is made out,” he said. Refuting suggestions of political interference, “The state government does not intend to monitor (the case) except asking the police department for a speedy disposal of the case. I have told the police not to take any pressure from any quarters,” he said.