Union Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Saturday said his remarks in Farrukhabad earlier this week had been misconstrued and he had not threatened India Against Corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal over his plans to visit his constituency. His remarks come on a day when the anti-corruption movement said it would be coming out with more documentary evidence against the Minister on November 1.
Speaking to a news channel, Mr. Khurshid said the media had not shown the entire clip of his speech. “You did not show the entire clip. Someone wants to misunderstand me, why does the media misunderstand me,” Mr. Khurshid asked.
Mr. Khurshid, whose remarks were disapproved by the Congress, said he had sought to convey that the people of Farrukabad would stand by him. “If you come to attack, you will see the strength I have,” Mr. Khurshid said, and added that people attacking him in his constituency will come back with a baggage.
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Asked about Mr. Kejriwal perceiving his remarks as a threat to his life, Mr. Khurshid said: “They must perceive something to keep politics alive.”
Mr. Khurshid took exception to IAC activist Prashant Bhushan likening him to a “mafia don” and demanding his arrest and wondered if he did not have a reason to be “indignant, disturbed”.
The Minister said the media also should be careful about its own ethics. “Principles of journalistic ethics have been violated. Feeding frenzy is going to lead the country to disaster. Are we going towards chaos?” he said.
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Referring to Mr. Kejriwal and his team, Mr. Khurshid said they do not trust a government probe “but when it comes to them, they can appoint their own people. Not everything is bad. Simply that we do not have perfection does not mean we are not good at all.”
In his remarks at a meeting in Farrukhabad on October 16, 2012, Mr. Khurshid had reportedly said: “I was told work with a pen and was made a Law Minister. I will work with a pen, but also with blood.”
Referring to Mr. Kejriwal’s threat to campaign against him in Farrukhabad, the Minister had reportedly told his cheering supporters: “Let him come to Farrukhabad, and let us see how he returns.”
There s more to reveal on Khurshid: IAC
Taking their “battle” against Mr. Khurshid a step further, IAC said in Lucknow it would be coming out with more documentary evidence against the Congress leader November 1 at Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh.
Slated to hold a demonstration led by leader Mr. Kejriwal in Farrukhabad, IAC activists said they would be putting out a ‘real’ list of beneficiaries from the Dr. Zakir Hussain Trust, managed by the Law Minister and his family.
The trust has been in the centre of a storm over allegations of graft.
“We have a verified list of disabled people who got equipment in 17 camps that the minister claims were held under the aegis of the trust run by him. We have something to reveal on that too, and we will expose him,” said an IAC activist.
Confirming that they would be putting out a fresh list, senior IAC member Sanjay Singh said that they would be holding a rally Nov 1 and warned that any attack on them would reflect poorly on both the central and the state governments.
“If something... happens, the Congress and Samajwadi Party (SP) would be responsible,” he said. The IAC also said that both the SP and Congress have joined hands against them.
The fact that no action was taken by the local police in the matter pertaining to the attack on Munna Lal Rajput and Laxman Singh (both IAC activists) and on local media persons, was testimony that the SP and Congress were acting in tandem against the IAC, an aide of Mr. Kejriwal alleged.