The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) summoned former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on 5 May for questioning. The questioning is in connection with a preliminary enquiry (PE) into the controversial sting CD. The CD purportedly shows Rawat talking to middlemen in a bid to strike a deal with dissident Congress MLAs.
Rawat has been called by the CBI to join the probe on Monday, sources said. The inquiry was registered on the recommendation of the state government and the notification was issued by the Centre. Uttarakhand is currently under President’s rule.
Two days before Rawat was to face vote of confidence on 28 March, nine rebel Congress MLAs, led by former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna, had alleged that they were offered a bribe by Rawat. The bribes, the MLAs claimed, were for support during the floor test in the Uttarakhand Assembly.
The sting CD was made by the editor-in-chief of a private news channel. It was circulated by the nine Congress rebels who created a political crisis in the state by siding with BJP in the Assembly.
Rawat, who had been insisting that the sting was fake, last week virtually admitted his presence in the controversial sting CD. He, however, said it was not a crime to meet a journalist or an MLA, and dismissed the conversation shown in the video as “meaningless”.
Rawat alleged that the sting operation and the CBI probe into it were part of a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP to topple an elected government. He dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah to put him in jail if he is found in the wrong.
Claiming innocence, Rawat had said if anything in the CD showed he made an offer in cash or kind in exchange for the support of disgruntled MLAs, he was ready “to be hanged” in public.