Seeks judicial probe, asks why no FIR has been filed against BJP State president, Gujarat CM and others whose names figure in the recording

Releasing transcripts of a conversation between Narendra Patel, convener of the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, led by Hardik Patel, and one of his colleagues who was allegedly trying to persuade him to join the BJP for a bribe of Rs. 1 crore, the Congress on Friday made a fresh demand for a judicial investigation.

Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken, at a party briefing, questioned why no FIR was lodged against the BJP State president, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and others whose names figured in the episode.

Call to poll panel

Since Mr. Patel released the audio recording of his conversation on Thursday, the Congress argued that the Election Commission (EC) should take cognisance of the issue as the Model Code of Conduct was now in force.

On Mr. Patel’s claims, Maken said since the Model Code of Conduct was in force in Gujarat, the EC should take suo motu (on its own motion) cognisance of the issue and take necessary action “based on the tape”.

“The question is why no FIR is registered against Amit Shah, Vijay Rupani, [BJP leader] Jitu Vaghani and Varun Patel? Why no judicial probe has been announced? What is the reason that the Prime Minister, Shah, Rupani are tight-lipped on the issue,” Mr. Maken asked.

The PAAS leader had alleged that the BJP tried to bribe him, and to back his claims, he had circulated an audio recording of his purported telephonic conversation with his former associate Varun Patel who had joined the BJP after quitting the Hardik Patel-led PAAS.

Modi’s voice

The Congress leader also commented on the audio recording of a purported conversation between Prime Minister Modi and a BJP worker in Vadodara. “We are getting to learn new marketing techniques. There cannot be a better example of self-promotion than this,” Mr. Maken said.