Two English television channels on Monday reported that four months after the UPA came to power in 2004, Sonia Gandhi wrote to the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram on a petition by financiers of Tehelka news portal that had conducted a sting operation on a fake defence deal that cost late Bangaru Laxman his job as BJP President and got him convicted.
She called the treatment to Tehelka financiers by revenue enforcement agencies ‘unjust and unfair’, and reportedly asked Chidambaram to resolve the Tehelka matter ‘on priority’
In the two letters written in September 2004, the Congress President asked Chidambaram to look into a presentation made to her by the Director of First Global, the main investors in Tehelka.com "on priority", the channels said.
Reacting to the story, Chidambaram said he has been shown a copy of a letter written by Gandhi forwarding a letter from First Global. He said
My noting on the letter is correct. I am certain that, on behalf of the ministry, I would have sent a reply based on the material put up to me. The letter of Mrs Gandhi and my reply should be read together. I suggest that the media may ask the government to release the reply to the letter.
Jaya Jaitly Also Claims Congress Had a Hand in Tehelka Sting
Former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitly has accused the Congress of having a hand in the Tehelka sting 'Operation West End', which led to then Defence Minister George Fernandes' resignation and that when UPA was in power, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had asked then Finance Minister P. Chidambram to ensure that Tehelka's alleged financiers are not treated in an "unfair" or "unjust" manner.
Jaitly has made these claims in her upcoming autobiography "Life among the Scorpions: Memoirs of a Woman in Indian Politics", which is due to be released on Tuesday.
(Breathe In, Breathe Out: Are you finding it tough to breathe polluted air? Join hands with FIT to find #PollutionKaSolution. Send in your suggestions to fit@thequint.com or WhatsApp @ +919999008335)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)