In an apparent damage-control bid after its leader Dilip Singh Judeo was caught on camera purportedly accepting a bribe, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said he was never projected as the party's chief ministerial candidate in Chhattisgarh.

Also see: Resignation not enough, prosecute Judeo: Congress

"Judeo is being projected by the media as BJP's chief ministerial candidate for Chhattisgarh. This is injustice as the party has not yet decided its chief ministerial candidate," BJP chief Venkaiah Naidu said in New Delhi.

"I want to put the record straight. Judeo was never projected as chief ministerial candidate, neither by the BJP's Chhattisgarh unit nor by the Central party leadership," he said.

The BJP chief said Judeo's integrity should not be questioned till the truth comes out from the CBI inquiry ordered by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. "In the hi-tech age, it is possible that the tapes could have been doctored," he said.

When referred to a reported remark of Judeo that Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad had
also accepted money during freedom struggle, Naidu refused to comment.

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