Uttarakhand: Congress MLA dares Modi Govt. to arrest him

Uttarakhand Congress MLA Ganesh Godiyal on Friday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre to arrest him with regard to the establishment of a college.

"The government included my college in the grant list in March 2015. They are trying to portray that some MLAs got benefit by this and I am also included in that. I want to challenge the Central Government to arrest me. Why are they harassing me? They are trying to punish those who haven't cheated with their own parties. If I have done anything they should prove it," Godiyal told ANI.

He said that he hasn't cheated the Congress Party when he was asked to do so.

"I have been pressurized to topple the Congress Government and come along with the BJP. I didn't support them and this is the result..I am being harassed. I called up the officials of the CBI yesterday and asked them to arrest me," he added.

Stating that he didn't have the intention to gain money from the college which he established in the year 2000, Godiyal said that he would have instituted it in Dehradun, Mumbai or Delhi if he had that intention.

"Now, the girls after their Class 12 can come there and pursue further education. After making 80,000 square feet in 2011, I resigned from the organisation. Neither am I related with the organisation nor any of my family members," he added.

The Congress leader said he had revealed earlier on March 18 that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had offered him Rs. five crore to topple the Uttarakhand Government and come along with them.

"When I didn't support them, they targeted me. They got a brazen defeat both in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. In their attempt to make me a victim of the CBI, they will again be defeated," he added.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned Godiyal with regard to government's help in constituting the Raath Degree College in Paithani village of Uttarakhand and also with regard to a sting CD case involving another Congress MLA Madan Bisht in alleged horse-trading.

Godiyal had earlier on March 18 claimed he and his legislator friends had been approached by state BJP leaders with 'hefty' offers to help trigger the collapse of the Harish Rawat government.