Congress today demanded action against BJP chief Amit Shah and three of its other leaders, including Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, as it alleged that the party had conducted a "false sting operation" to "defame" the Uttarakhand government.
Led by its state vice chairman Jot Singh Bisht, a Congress delegation met SSP Pushpak Jyoti and demanded action against Shah, BJP national vice president Shyam Jaju, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the party's state president Tirath Singh Rawat.
In a complaint submitted to the SSP, Congress also sought action against a journalist, one Ashok Pandey.
The ruling party charged that BJP had conducted a "false and wrong" sting operation with an intention to defame and discredit Congress and undermine the image of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat among the people.
Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had last month released a CD of a sting operation in which Rawat's personal secretary Mohammad Shahid can be seen purportedly bargaining with middlemen and private liquor distributors.
Shahid was allegedly talking about the commission to be given to him to allow them, rather than government undertakings, to distribute liquor in Dehradun. The official was transferred from his post the same day.
In their letter to the SSP, Congress alleged that those behind the sting operation had misused information technology as they had recorded the clip without mentioning time, date and place.
Congress further charged that BJP has not made available the original CD for forensic examination despite a written request on August 20. That is despite Jaju accepting on August 23 that the original CD was available with BJP, Congress further said in the complaint.
Congress, which claimed that a high court order had been violated in conducting the sting operation, also demanded forensic examination of all the equipment used to record the clip.
