NEW DELHI, 10 December 2003 — A prominent member of the opposition Congress party is to face a formal investigation into allegations that he tried to bribe newly elected state legislators of the rival BJP into defecting.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) yesterday filed a conspiracy and corruption case against Ajit Jogi, former Congress chief minister of Chhattisgarh state and his son Amit.
The two have been accused of trying to bribe legislators from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s BJP party, which won last week’s election in the state.
At a news conference in Chhattisgarh state capital Raipur last week, top BJP leaders played a recorded telephone conversation during which Ajit Jogi purportedly offered 2.5 million rupees ($97,826) to BJP state leader Virendra Pandey to lead a breakaway of 17 BJP legislators.
The move was apparently aimed at preventing the BJP from taking over the state government.
Jogi has denied that the voice on the tape is his.
Meanwhile, the Congress party, dogged by controversy and a string of losses in recent assembly polls, put on a brave face yesterday to celebrate the 57th birthday of its president Sonia Gandhi.
A huge crowd of supporters, undaunted by the winter chill, had gathered outside her residence early yesterday to catch a glimpse of one of India’s most closely guarded leaders.
Senior Congress leaders armed with bouquets and flower garlands were seen going into Gandhi’s residence as hundreds of well-wishers waited patiently for their turn to greet her.
A number of dance troupes entertained the crowd.
The Congress, which had boasted of administering half of India’s 28 provinces, ran into trouble earlier this month when it was routed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s BJP party in provincial elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The victories came as a shot in the arm for the BJP, which had lost ground to the Congress since coming to power in national elections in 1999, and put Gandhi’s leadership in question.
Congress heavyweight Ambika Soni said the disappointment over the assembly election results had not overshadowed the birthday celebrations.
“They are two different things altogether but there is a mood of determination among Congress leaders today to learn from the mistakes and go ahead,” she said while talking to reporters.
The Dec. 1 elections were seen as a measure of the popularity of both parties ahead of national polls next year.
While the regional elections were fought primarily on local issues, they are seen as a personal defeat for Gandhi, the Italian-born widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated by Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels in 1991.
Yesterday, Gandhi, addressing her MPs, said the party would “accept the verdict of the people with humility.”
The CBI case against Jogi is seen as a severe embarrassment for the Congress especially as Jogi allegedly said that he had a mandate from Gandhi to try to get the BJP legislators to break away.
In her first public comments, Gandhi said Jogi’s actions could not be “condoned,” adding that the party favored a “thorough and impartial investigation” into the matter.
