Advani aide Kulkarni says he was present during sting operation

Asked why he remained silent for the last ten days, he said: “Since the telecast did not happen, I, as one of the witnesses, felt that it was necessary to puncture the cover of disbelief and doubt that the channel has deliberately created over this episode.”

He said: “I was coordinating with Sidharth Gautam, a young correspondent with CNN-IBN. He was in touch with his superiors. After talking to his superiors at the channel’s headquarters, Gautam promised the three BJP MPs that the programme would be telecast within a couple of hours.”

Asked how a political party could set deadlines for media organisations, Kulkarni, a former journalist, replied: “No political party can set deadlines for media organisations. But a media organisation — in this case, CNN-IBN — certainly had the obligation to keep the deadline it had promised to the three BJP MPs. It was the last day of the two-day special session of Parliament.”

CNN-IBN refused to comment about Kulkarni’s revelations. The channel has already clarified that it chose not to telecast the story as it was not complete.