Dehradun:
The Congress today termed the sting CD episode as part of a conspiracy to malign the Uttarakhand government's image and said it will lodge an FIR against the BJP for levelling baseless allegations against the party.
"The BJP was in a cracking hurry to go to the press with its allegations against Uttarakhand government but despite more than a month after the press conference held by the party in Delhi for the purpose, it has not produced the original CD and tools used in its making. It shows there is no substance to the party's allegations which were levelled to bring disrepute to the state government," PCC president Kishore Upadhyay told reporters in Dehradun.
As the BJP has failed to produce the original CD and videography paraphernalia for forensic tests, an FIR will be lodged against the party for maligning image of the state government, Mr Upadhyaya said.
Though not specifying a date for the FIR, he said it will be done in a day or two.
PCC Vice-President Jot Singh Bisht had recently threatened to take legal action against those behind the sting if the original CD and the tools used in its making were not made available to the party immediately.
Reiterating the party's commitment to take action against anyone found guilty of corruption, Mr Bisht had written to BJP President Amit Shah on August 20 asking him to produce the original sting CD and the tools used in its making so that they could be sent for forensic tests to verify its authenticity and the charges levelled on its basis against a state government official by the BJP.
As the CD was released by BJP national spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman at a press conference in Delhi, hence making its original available was the BJP's prime responsibility, Mr Bisht had said in his letter to Mr Shah.
The sting video purportedly showed Harish Rawat's former Personal Secretary Mohammad Shahid negotiating a bribery deal with a middleman for liquor licences.
Mr Shahid, an IAS officer who was posted on deputation to Uttarakhand, has since been recalled to Delhi.
The PCC President also condemned the lathicharge on ex- servicemen saying it was an insult to martyred soldiers who laid down their lives to protect the country's borders.
Thoroughly backing their demand for OROP, he said it must be implemented without further delay.
He also demanded reservation for Uttarakhandis in Central Government Services as it was a border state.