The BJP’s anti-corruption campaign against the Congress-led UPA government received a blow when Bangaru Laxman was convicted by a local court for accepting Rs. 1 lakh as bribe when he was BJP president. Two journalists of a web portal had posed as arms dealers, 11 years ago, in a sting operation that trapped Laxman and rocked the Vajpayee-led NDA government. The development came just a day after BJP and its alliance partners stalled proceedings in the two Houses of Parliament demanding a judicial probe into the Bofors gun scandal cover-up. The former BJP president’s conviction knocks the bottom off the party’s anti-corruption plank.
Immediately after the court of special CBI judge Kanwaljeet Arora pronounced its verdict, the 72-year-old BJP leader was sent to Tihar jail. Laxman, who was caught on camera accepting money in his chamber in the party headquarters in early 2001, had to step down as BJP president soon after the portal put out the sting at a news conference. Congress, which has been at the receiving end of BJP’s corruption charges, was quick to pounce on the court verdict to pillory its principal political adversary.
A red-faced BJP sought to distance itself from its former president's conviction, describing it as an issue involving his personal conduct, although Laxman is a member of the party's national executive. The court, while rejecting Laxman’s plea for bail, said it would look into the aspect only after the sentence was announced. The former BJP president appeared stunned in the witness box as the judge pronounced his verdict. He did not to talk to any one and sat in the witness box for a long time. His daughter was also present in the court.
Immediately after the court of special CBI judge Kanwaljeet Arora pronounced its verdict, the 72-year-old BJP leader was sent to Tihar jail. Laxman, who was caught on camera accepting money in his chamber in the party headquarters in early 2001, had to step down as BJP president soon after the portal put out the sting at a news conference. Congress, which has been at the receiving end of BJP’s corruption charges, was quick to pounce on the court verdict to pillory its principal political adversary.
A red-faced BJP sought to distance itself from its former president's conviction, describing it as an issue involving his personal conduct, although Laxman is a member of the party's national executive. The court, while rejecting Laxman’s plea for bail, said it would look into the aspect only after the sentence was announced. The former BJP president appeared stunned in the witness box as the judge pronounced his verdict. He did not to talk to any one and sat in the witness box for a long time. His daughter was also present in the court.
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