Party hits Delete, PM Pause

While the BJP spent the day claiming the VCD that shows Union Minister of State for Environment Dilip Singh Judeo accepting cash, reported exclusively by The Sunday Express, had been doctored, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said late tonight that a probe was already on and if found guilty, the minister would have to quit.

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Asked whether action would be taken against Judeo, Vajpayee, who returned from a week-long three-nation tour, told The Indian Express: 8216;8216;If he is proved guilty, he Judeo will have to go.8217;8217;

But he indicated that with elections around, the decision may have to wait. 8216;8216;These are election times8230; a number of allegations are usually made8230; we don8217;t agree with the demand for an immediate resignation of Judeo,8217;8217; he said.

Stating that the inquiry will be looking into 8216;8216;all aspects8217;8217; of the case, he said that the BJP president Venkaih Naidu was also examining the matter. The Prime Minister said: 8216;8216;But the media should not pre-judge before that.8217;8217;

Asked about the possible impact on the BJP8217;s poll prospects, he said: 8216;8216;We will know about it later.8217;8217;

8216;8216;I have read the report8230; It is a policy of my government to carry out an open probe into all charges of corruption and an inquiry is already being conducted,8217;8217; he said. Asked if he would be summoning Judeo for explanation, Vajpayee said, 8216;8216;If the need arises, I shall.8217;8217;

Vajpayee is likely to meet Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu and other party leaders tomorrow to discuss the matter.

Advani told The Indian Express in reply to a question on the sidelines of a lecture at the Andhra Pradesh Bhawan: 8216;8216;I have to talk to him Judeo at least once before reacting.8217;8217; Party chief Naidu had yesterday said: 8216;8216;I am not aware of it tape.8217;8217; Today, he was not available.

Party sources said that the leadership wants to keep all options open. As of now, however, its strategy, expressed by party general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, is to brazen it out. Both Naqvi in New Delhi and later, Judeo in Raipur, called the tape a 8216;8216;conspiracy8217;8217; by the Congress and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi.

Though the party was dismissive of the tape, highly placed sources in the government said intelligence agencies were busy throughout the day to verify the authenticity of the tape and gather information on its contents to prepare a note for the Prime Minister.

The Indian Express this afternoon released copies of the VCD in the form in which it was received8212;without any editing8212;to the print and broadcast media. As part of the interim BJP strategy, Naqvi adopted an aggressive stand. He questioned the credibility of the tape and asked the Election Commission to order a CBI probe into the entire issue.

However, he was unable to respond to specific questions about Judeo8217;s movements on the date on which the money is seen changing hands. Nor did he commit himself to a stand when asked if the party would seek an explanation from Judeo or tell him to step down as a Union Minister of State. Naqvi stonewalled all embarrassing questions by consistently maintaining: 8216;8216;You are asking me to comment on the contents of a tape, whose authenticity is under doubt.8217;8217;

8216;8216;The publication, telecast and circulation of the tape,8217;8217; Naqvi said, 8216;8216;without identifying its source and without establishing its credibility, is a violation of the poll code. We demand that the Election Commission intervene, sieze the slanderous material and order a high-level inquiry in to it so that the forces behind it are exposed. The commission can assign the inquiry to the CBI.8217;8217;

Naqvi claimed the tape was 8216;8216;doctored, manipulated and fabricated.8217;8217; He quickly laid the blame at the Congress-door. This led to a volley of questions from reporters, who wondered if he could say so without having seen the CD.

8216;8216;Didn8217;t we say so yesterday?8217;8217; the BJP leader recalled having stated at yesterday8217;s briefing that the 8216;8216;Congress is up to some such tactic to defame our chief ministerial candidates.8217;8217; He went on to claim: 8216;8216;We had been tipped off by some Congress leaders that such a conspiracy is in the offing. It is very much possible to fake such tapes in today8217;s age of technological advancement.8217;8217;

He suspected Jogi8217;s involvement: 8216;8216;Jogi can go to any extent. He is already facing charges of forging documents8212; pertaining to his caste or the IB.8217;8217;