Chief Minister Harish Rawat has categorically accepted that he had a meeting with the 'middleman', who allegedly made the sting operation CD in which Rawat was shown talking of making a deal with him after nine Congress MlAs boycotted him on March 18 to join the Bharatiya Janata Party later, but it does not mean that he has committed any crime on it.
Rawat said, "It was a normal discussion and the middleman was offering to arrange MlAs to win majority in the floor of the Vidhan Sabha. As per the sting operation CD, which the CBI has made evidence to lodge case against me, if I have made any exchange of cash or asked the middleman to buy MlAs' support on my behalf then I would be guilty but this was not done by me. Even if they say that I have committed offence then I am ready to face the outcome because only the people of Uttarakhand have the right to punish me," he said.
Chief minister Harish Rawat has questioned the actual motive behind the inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the sting operation CD case for which he has been summoned to appear at the bureau's New Delhi office on December 26. He said that he had interacted with the middleman but it does not mean that he has committed any crime. It is true that he had interaction with the middleman, the so-called sting maker, but it does not mean that he had made any tempting offer to him.
He raised a question mark over the CBI because they have lodged case around six months back but after a long gap they have opted to initiate investigation when the Sstate is in the election mode. Doesn't it mean they have been working under the direction of the Union Government. He also said that he demanded investigation on the person, who allegedly made sting and was offering money to me in that video, that how he crated that much empire.