BJP asks Jogi to depose before judicial panel

Saying that there were "conspiracy theories from the Congress household" doing rounds regarding the last week's Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh, the BJP Friday demanded that former chief minister Ajit Jogi testify before the panel probing the incident.

"The Congress rumour mills are active... Conspiracy theories are coming out of the Congress household," Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said.

The BJP spokesperson added that instead of answering questions about one of the Congress MLAs escaping on a motorbike and Jogi using a helicopter after the Congress party function in the Bastar region, the former Chhattisgarh chief minister was threatening legal action against BJP leaders for their remarks.

"There may be questions which Mr Jogi may have to answer," she said, adding that Jogi can make his stand clear before the judicial commission probing the attack that left 28 people dead.

"In Chhattisgarh, the environment is full of questions which the Congress and its leadership may have to answer," she said.

Two top Congress leaders from the state were among those killed during the Maoist attack on a Congress convoy in Chhattisgarh last week.

Sitharaman accused the Congress of double-speak on the issue of fighting Maoists, and said the party gives positions of power to people who support Maoists.