BJP boycotts Manmohan lunch to protest ‘misuse’ of CBI

BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and L.K. Advani in New Delhi after paying floral tributes to Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak on his birth anniversary. Senior BJP leaders held a meeting on the Amit Shah issue on Friday

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday said its top leaders decided against attending the lunch hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to protest against “misuse” of CBI by summoning Gujarat Minister Amit Shah in connection with the Sohrabuddin Sheikh encounter case.

Addressing a press conference, BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley said they along with senior leader L.K. Advani and BJP chief Nitin Gadkari had received the invitation for the lunch.

“We met yesterday and decided not to go for the lunch which was conveyed this morning. This is to protest against the misuse of CBI in Gujarat,” Ms. Swaraj told reporters after a meeting of the top leaders here.

She said Mr. Advani had raised the issue of “misuse” of CBI with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee but government did not pay heed.

Mr. Jaitley termed the summoning of Mr. Shah as “political vendetta” and alleged that CBI has become the “extended arm” of the ruling party. “The timing of this is chosen for the political convenience of the Congress party,” he added.

Mr. Jaitley said the track record of CBI did not “inspire” confidence. “Government has been shamelessly misusing CBI,” he said adding investigations into the 2G spectrum scam has been “put in cold storage“.

Ms. Swaraj noted that the atmosphere was “vitiated” and therefore the leaders thought that it was “inappropriate” to attend the lunch.

Alleging that the CBI was used by the government for its advantage, she said the agency was used to save “their people” like Bofors accused Ottavio Quattrochi and anti-Sikh riots accused Jagdish Tytler.

In other cases, she alleged, the CBI was used to “trap” opponents like Mr. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Narendra Modi.

“In the third scenario, the agency is used as a Damocles sword to pressurise some political parties. Summoning of Shah is part of this series,” she said.