Spike him: Cong

With the Assembly elections less than a fortnight away, the Congress is already making the case of Union Minister Dilip Singh Judeo acceptin...

With the Assembly elections less than a fortnight away, the Congress is already making the case of Union Minister Dilip Singh Judeo accepting bribe as its prime campaign issue.

Party machinery has begun churning out slogans like ‘‘Mamla aar ya paar hai, ghotalon mein doobi NDA sarkar hai!’’ Also ready are posters showing Judeo as an embarrassment for Prime Minister Vajpayee, or Judeo and Bangaru Laxman as milestones of corruption.

Earlier in the day, three senior leaders Ambika Soni, Oscar Fernandes and Ahmed Patel were detained from marching to the Prime Minister’s residence on Race Course Road and demanding that Judeo be prosecuted, his resignation was not enough.

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Party spokesperson Jaipal Reddy said Judeo’s ‘‘sin has not been washed away’’ by his resignation and prosecution should be launched against him as he was ‘‘caught in the act of graft’’.

‘‘Any minister caught accepting bribe cannot be allowed to get away with a mere resignation. It is no punishment. He should be prosecuted under the Prevention of Corruption Act,’’ Reddy said, adding that Judeo was ‘‘forced to resign’’ and it was not a ‘‘voluntary act of self-abdication’’.

	Scan your scams: BJP

			I told Judeo to wait till Vajpayee returned: Naidu NEERJA CHOWDHURY NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 17 BJP Chief M. Venkaiah Naidu claimed that Dilip Singh Judeo had offered to resign on Sunday itself but he had advised the Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest to hold on till the Prime Minister returned from his trip. ‘‘I spoke to Judeo yesterday,’’ Naidu told The Indian Express.‘‘Let’s find out what happened, I told him, and wait for the arrival of the PM. I discussed the matter with the PM this morning and conveyed to him Judeo’s desire to resign. The PM accepted, so I gave him the green signal. He sent in his resignation letter which was forwarded to the President.’’ Criticising the Congress for activating its ‘‘Dirty Tricks Department’’, Naidu said the CBI will soon find out ‘‘who is behind the Australian company and who is the agent behind this entire episode, and what is the motive and purpose behind it all’’. Story continues below this ad The Congress, the BJP president said, was capable of stooping to any level. ‘‘If they could do a St Kitt’s forgery with V.P. Singh, and open an account in his son’s name, they can do anything.’’ Naidu said the whole affair will have no effect on the forthcoming elections. ‘‘In fact, there will be a backlash in Chhattisgarh,’’ he said. It was all very well for the Congress to demand Judeo’s resignation, Naidu said, adding, ‘‘But what about the persons in the Congress who have been chargesheeted?’’ Ajit Jogi has not quit even after being chargesheeted by the CBI. ‘‘Here is a man, who fabricated an IB document, sent it to the PM, and reminded the PM about it by writing to him. Jogi’s manipulations are known to everybody.’’ Moving on to the Telgi scam, Naidu said: ‘‘Why are they (the Congress) hesitating in demanding a CBI inquiry into it? Look at the contrast here. Here is our minister who offers to resign, and the PM orders a CBI probe against him. And there is the Congress which should explain how a Rs 30,000-crore scam has taken place. Its MLAs were taken to Karnataka and given hospitality by Telgi. His brother was the vice-president of the Karnataka Congress Minority Cell.’’ Asked if Judeo had his approval in saying what he did at the press conference on Sunday, Naidu said: ‘‘I am not happy about the attack on The Indian Express correspondent.’’