For the first time since his name came up in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, national BJP General Secretary and Gujarat in-charge Om Mathur today denied his involvement in the case.

“It is a political allegation by the Opposition Congress, which has dragged my name into the fake encounter case. The Congress is hurling baseless allegations against me and the BJP for its own survival in the state,” Mathur said.

The BJP leader admitted at a media conference that the fake encounter case and the immigration scam, involving BJP MP Babu Katara, had hit the party’s image. He, however, said it was a passing phase and added that they “will go to the masses and clarify position on these issues”.

Describing his one-day visit to Gujarat as a “routine one”, Mathur met Chief Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers during his stay in the state capital. Later in the evening, he attended a meeting of the state BJP office-bearers where he reviewed the political situation prevailing in Gujarat and also assessed the various party programmes being implemented in the state.

Sources said the fake encounter case and the arrest of the three IPS officers, including Rajasthan SP M N Dinesh, had been discussed between the two. The Chief Minister and the state BJP in-charge also took stock of the political situation in the wake of the party’s debacle in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, the sources said.

Later, Mathur told reporters that the political scenario in Gujarat could not be compared with that in UP where the BJP had suffered poll reverses. He said it was too early to say if the BJP would fight the coming Assembly elections in Gujarat on the Hindutva plank.

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