New Delhi: Hours after being suspended from the Congress, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi today (Dec 7, 2003) met Ahmed Patel, political secretary to party president Sonia Gandhi to explain his version about the cash-for-MLA sting in which he was "entrapped" by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and offered to face any inquiry, including by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

After meeting Patel, Jogi told reporters that he would request Congress Working Committee, meeting in New Delhi, to hear his version before arriving at any decision on the episode.

He also threatened to file a defamation case against Law Minister Arun Jaitley and former BJP MLA and vice president of the State unit of the party Virendra Pandey.

At a press conference in Raipur late last night, Jaitley played an audio tape of a conversation purportedly between Jogi and Pandey, in which the former Chief Minister is apparently heard offering Rs 20 lakh as the first payoff. Jogi subsequently denied the charge, but admitted having met Pandey and giving a letter for the Governor extending the support of Congress in the formation of a Government headed by Baliram Kashyap, a tribal BJP MLA.

Jogi also said he would be filing a criminal case against Pandey in the alleged bribery scandal.

Asked if he would accept a CBI inquiry into the whole affair, he said, "CBI has lost its credibility. But I will not boycott any investigation."

PTI