Hours after she made her revelations in an explosive letter, senior Congress leader and former Union environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan called a conference and again attacked Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi for his sustained campaign to humiliate her and to torpedo her good work just to please the corporate lobby which had been unhappy about her stonewalling a number of projects for which green clearances were not given.
Jayanthi Natarajan also announced that she was quitting Congress, saying she cannot continue in the ‘suffocating atmosphere’.
Here are the highlights:
1. Natarajan accuses Rahul Gandhi’s office of planting stories to sully her reputation after her resignation as Environment Minister in UPA-II.
2. I have no plans to join any other political party after such bitter experiences: Natarajan says.
3. Natarajan welcomes any probe into the environmental clearances given during her tenure, says it will give her an opportunity to explain her position.
4. I have done no wrong. I am willing to be hanged or go to jail if any concrete proof of my wrongdoing is established: Natarajan.