The Congress labelled the Madhya Pradesh minister Govind Singh Rajput's arrest for violating the poll code because he allegedly promised Rs 25,00,000 to the booth that receives the most votes. They demanded that Rajput be removed from his position as minister and prohibited from running for office.
Rajput, who holds the key transport and revenue portfolios in Shivraj Singh Chouhan government and is close to Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, is the BJP candidate from Surkhi constituency in Sagar district. An FIR was registered against him at Rahatgarh police station following a complaint filed with the district election officer.
Addressing a press conference, AICC spokesperson Sobha Oza said Rajput’s case is not an isolated instance but is the tip of the iceberg, as she replayed the now viral video of senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya in which he is seen promising money to the booths in his Indore constituency that ensure no votes are polled in favour of his Congress rival.
Oza claimed that the remarks made by prominent BJP figures indicate that the party has realised it is losing the Bhopal election, which is why its members are being forced to turn to such overt financial inducements. She added Rajput should be questioned about where he is getting the enormous sums of money that he is giving to the people running his polling booths.
The MP Congress leader said Rajput is a confidant of Scindia and was among those who “betrayed” the party in 2020 when the BJP bought MLAs “by paying £3.5 million to each of them” to topple the Congress government led by CM Kamal Nath. She claimed the same money is now being used to buy the votes.