BENGALURU: All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and state in charge KC Venugopal has defended himself against the charges of sexual assault saying that he would retire from public service, if any of the charges could be proved.
Speaking at the launch of state-run bus services from Bengaluru to Alappuzha (Alleppey) in the city on Saturday Venugopal said, "I have been in politics for 40 years and there is not a single black mark against me. The Opposition has been making such allegations against me for a long time now. It reached a peak when I contested elections. The case has been filed against me by a woman who herself has 36 cases filed against her. I have also filed a defamation case in Ernakulam court. Let them prove I am guilty and I will retire from public life.”
The decision of the left government in Kerala to hold a vigilance probe into the solar scam and register a complaint based on a letter written by the chief accused Sarita Nair, has left Congress scrambling as her letter implicates many senior Congress leaders of the state including Venugopal.
Seizing the opportunity, BJP has been on an overdrive holding protests and the women's wing led by the vocal MP of Udupi Shobha Karandlaje demanding that the 'molester' be sent out of the state.
On the issue of Minister Roshan Baig using an expletive while talking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a speech delivered three days ago, Venugopal said that he had heard worse from BJP. "I am speaking on behalf of AICC. BJP leaders comment more than this. I have heard them use far worse words than what Roshan Baig used. I am sure he did not do it deliberately and he has already provided a clarification in this regard. But the use of such words is not right," Venugopal admitted.