London: Accusing Atal Bihari Vajpayee of indulging in political vendetta and having anti-lower caste bias, Chattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi has said the Prime Minister was "misusing" the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against him after receiving an election survey indicating Congress victory with heavy margin in the State.

"It is a political reality that the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) Government at the Centre, especially our Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, cannot tolerate that the son of an adivasi is a Chief Minister of Chattisgarh. Such is their mentality. They want to look down upon the downtrodden in the society," Jogi said while participating in a BBC Hindi Special Programme 'Aapki Baat BBC Ke Saath' broadcast last night (Nov 2).

Jogi said it was for this reason that they first targeted Laloo Prasad Yadav in Bihar, then the dalit Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mayawati, and now in Chattisgarh. "They are making unsuccessful attempts to get rid of me, they cannot tolerate such changes in the society. Such is their mental state."

Asked about a CBI charge that he had forged a document, Jogi said, "It has happened for the first time in the history of this country that a Chief Minister complains to the Prime Minister, and the latter turns the complainant into an accused."

Jogi asked why the CBI decided to file the chargesheet two days after the elections were notified.

"If they had evidence, why did they not do it earlier? It is only after the Prime Minister received reports of election surveys, which stated a victory with a heavy margin for the Congress that this was done," Jogi said.

He said he had received a document from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) by post.

"I sent it to the Prime Minister requesting that this is a serious matter involving an intelligence agency and it must be investigated. Far from investigating, the Prime Minister chose to make me an accused.

"The charge-sheet submitted by the CBI against me does not anywhere say that I have forged the documents. It, on the contrary, has a laughable query – why did I write to the Prime Minister and why I did not investigate it myself."

He said no State Government could launch an investigation against the IB. "If I had done that, they would not have told me anything. It is for the first time in the history of the country that a Chief Minister Writing to the Prime Minister is booked in a case and it is for the first time that a complainant is turned into an accused."

He said the "unprecedented action of the Prime Minister in ordering the Central intelligence agencies to implicate me clearly shows that this Government at the Centre does not want any Chief Minister to write to the Prime Minister.

"Even if the Prime Minister did not like my letter, he could have informed me. On the contrary he asked the CBI to file a politically motivated chargesheet against me. I have full faith in the judiciary of this country, and this charge-sheet would not stand the legal scrutiny," Jogi said.

PTI