Tape row: Pawar launches counter-offencive against Baghel

Manturam Pawar, the Congress candidate in Antagarh by-election in Chhattisgarh who pulled out of the fray at the last moment, today denied that Chief Minister Raman Singh, BJP or the Congress leader Ajit Jogi had any role in his withdrawal.
Pawar is now at the centre of a controversy over an audio-tape which reportedly suggests that his withdrawal was at the behest of BJP and was facilitated by Jogi.
"I had lost Antagarh Assembly poll three times -- 2003, 2008 and 2013 -- due to infighting in state Congress and differences among key leaders. Therefore I was not willing to become the party nominee in 2014 bypoll."

"I had even asked state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel to give the chance to some other leader, but he ignored my advice," Pawar said at a press conference here.
Pawar, considered to be close to Jogi, withdrew from the fray a day before the last date for withdrawal and was expelled from Congress. He later joined BJP.
"Few days before the withdrawal of nomination, I had asked Baghel to unite all the party leaders for the election, but he asked me to keep Ajit Jogi, Charandas Mahant and supporters of AICC treasurer Motilal Vora away from campaign so that he could take credit if Congress won," Pawar said.

Pawar called the audio tape "fake" and "baseless" and

said that Chief Minister Raman Singh, BJP or Ajit Jogi had no role in his withdrawal.
To a question whether he supported Congress's demand of probe by an SIT or by the Election Commission, he said, "I am open to all kind of investigations, whatever Congress wants to bring out the truth."
Pawar also alleged he was offered bribe by two unnamed persons to rejoin Congress in November last year. "They said they had approached me on Baghel's direction," he said.
"Those two persons said I will be taken to New Delhi to meet AICC vice president Rahul Gandhi and I have to speak against Ajit Jogi before him. They also said they wanted to make some audio tape regarding the Antagarh by-poll. For all this I was offered money, a red-beacon vehicle and other things. But I paid no heed," he claimed.

The audio tape released by a national daily contains conversations purportedly featuring Ajit Jogi, his son Amit and Chief Minister Raman Singh's son-in-law Puneet Gupta, Pawar himself, Firoz Siddiqui and Ameen Memon.
Congress, however, dismissed Pawar's allegations.
"Pawar betrayed the trust of Congress by withdrawing from the election then, and now he is levelling false charges against our leaders," state Congressspokesperson Sailesh Nitin Trivedi said.
"He has become spokesperson of BJP and is saying whatever is being fed to him by the ruling party leaders," he added.