Lucknow:
Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal has said that a CD which purportedly has his aide offering to cancel his rally in the constituency of External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid is most likely "doctored."
The CD was released yesterday in Farrukhabad by supporters of Mr Khurshid, who has been feuding with Mr Kejriwal. The conversation is reportedly between Mr Khurshid's wife, Louise, and Laxman Singh, a senior leader of the India Against Corruption movement which supports Mr Kejriwal.
(Listen to CD released by Congress targeting Arvind Kejriwal's aide)Mr Singh allegedly offers to have Mr Kejriwal's rally in Farrukhabad cancelled today if the minister's wife has a Congress leader in Farrukhabad expelled from the party. Mr Kejriwal's rally is problematic for the Khurshids because he plans to highlight corruption charges against them.
Mr Kejriwal retaliated today that Mrs Khurshid may have supplied a doctored CD. She has, after all, been accused of furnishing false affidavits and papers in connection with the NGO she runs in Uttar Pradesh, he alleged.
Mr Singh too has said that the CD is doctored. Alleging that he was tricked into having a conversation with Mrs Khurshid, he added, "The only solution I was offering was that the rally could be called if the minister and his wife visit Farrukhabad, apologise to the people and give aid to the disabled."
Since last month, Mr Kejriwal has been demanding the then Law Minister's exigent removal. His campaign against Mr Khurshid -culminating in a rally on the minister's home turf today - is based largely on a report carried on a Hindi news channel which said that lakhs had been embezzled by the NGO headed by Mr Khurshid and run by his wife in Uttar Pradesh. The Kuhrshids have refuted the allegations and have sued the TV channel.
The UP government is investigating the charges against their NGO.