launching a blistering attack on the ‘vindictive’ Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Friday, the former State Cabinet Minister, Harak Singh Rawat, demanded a CBI inquiry into the alleged rape case involving him, affirming that the Chief Minister had been trying by all means to frame him and eight other rebel MlAs to finish them off politically.
“Matters reached the peak when a lady lodged rape charges against me. She even recorded her statement before a magistrate. A few days later, things about-turned as she withdrew her statement, saying that the State Government had coerced her into making the statement. Given the state of things, I am demanding a CBI probe to dig out the truth about who had masterminded the conspiracy to defame me,” he said.
The mercurial politician further demanded immediate imposition of the President’s Rule in the State.
“The upcoming Assembly election must be held under the President’s Rule to stop the Harish Rawat regime from stooping to any low to win it. They are hell-bent on annihilating me and other former MlAs who turned rebels, including Rekha Arya,” Harak Singh Rawat said.
The BJP leader, who has never tasted defeat since1977, the year he entered politics, despite shifting constituencies frequently, said that he was being framed in concocted cases by the State Government. "Things are happening thick and fast. First, an FIR was lodged against one of his close confidantes in a land scam case. Now they have started inquiry into TDC scam. They lodged FIR against the ex-MlA Rekha Arya’s husband. The Government offices, located in the constituency of Narendranagar MlA Subodh Uniyal, are being shifted to Tehri. Things have been so since the British era. Now, what is the tearing hurry behind shifting it to TehriIJ The ominous story has not ended here. The complex owned by another dissident MlA Pradeep Batra has been sealed. The welfare schemes meant for the constituency held by another dissident Umesh Sharma Kau are being curtailed at the behest of the State Government. Things are conspicuously clear. They are out to finish off the dissidents politically," he said.
Referring to the alleged rape case, the ‘disqualified’ MlA said that it was the same lady who had lodged FIR in 2003 while he was a Cabinet Minister in ND Tiwari regime. “She sent me messages and gave me 38 missed calls. later, she came to my residence in Delhi, seeking money which she said she direly needed. I had to quit the Ministry. later, the CBI gave me a clean chit. However, I helped the woman. I gave her Rs 10,000 in cash which I withdrew from an ATM in Delhi. Things repeated again as the same woman recorded a statement against me before a magistrate in Delhi. The conspiracy must be exposed in full and the responsibility fixed adequately,” he said.
He further said that in 2003, he had lodged a defamation case against the woman, but he had withdrawn on a request made by an NGO. “Now with the same woman leveling wild charges against me, my dignity stands compromised. I would move court, seeking justice. I think things must be settled once and for all so that others are not victims of the conspiracy as I am,” Harak Singh Rawat said.
Asked why he is being targeted time and again, he said that the people tend to throw stones on a tree that bears fruit. “They are targeting me as they are aware of the worth I have,” he averred.