New Delhi, Aug 10 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday questioned the silence as well as the relationship of the Congress party with Tarun Tejpal, the former Tehelka editor-in-chief convicted in a 2013 rape case.
Addressing a press conference at party HQ, BJP Spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi mounted scathing criticism of the Congress party over its ‘silence’ on the matter, accusing it of having “one-sided, partisan, and prejudiced thinking” on matters like freedom of expression or harassment of women.
This comes a day after the Goa Bench of the Bombay High Court convicted Tarun Tejpal in a 2003 rape case and sentenced him to 10 years rigorous punishment, overturning acquittal by the trial court.
Questioning the ‘double standards’ of Congress, the BJP spokesperson asked why either the grand old party or any Opposition leader, who consider and project themselves as the champions of women’s interests, has not spoken a single word about the conviction.
Trivedi, apparently referring to the group’s sting operation in 2001 against the BJP government, claimed that the Congress party misused the media outlet for political purposes, influenced the investigation process, and has now maintained silence on the matter.
Sudhanshu Trivedi, pointing to an ‘unholy alliance’ between the two, claimed that the Congress governments kept on shielding Tehelka and its financiers from the inquiry commission set up under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, highlighting how the successive dispensations sought to discredit charges against him and glorified him.
“In 2021, when Tarun Tejpal had succeeded in being acquitted by the lower court, and the High Court overturned that decision, Tarun Tejpal had thanked the Congress party, saying that the Congress had helped him a great deal in this rape case,” the BJP Rajya Sabha MP said, asking the Congress party to explain what relationship existed between Congress and Tarun Tejpal.
He further accused the Congress party of conspiring against nationalist governments by applying underhand means, and insinuated that the 2001 episode was one of the ‘greatest incidents’ of collusion between the media houses and politicians.
“The Congress party has always conspired against nationalist governments by using people with suspected criminal backgrounds through the media. It evades investigations, provides them legal assistance, and once they are convicted, their voices are muted,” he stated.
The BJP MP demanded answers from the Congress as to why it hasn’t uttered a word on Tejpal’s conviction and said that its silence only goes to show the scale of conspiracy hatched by the latter, followed by a cover-up attempt if things go wrong.
–IANS
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