BJP Offered Rs 100 Crore to Net Cong MLA, Alleges Digvijaya Singh

Bhopal: Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh claimed the BJP had offered "Rs 100 crore" to a Congress MLA in Madhya Pradesh to topple the Kamal Nath government.

The BJP, in response, dared Singh to prove his allegations and also tried to run down the former MP CM's claims as irrelevant.

In his trademark style, Singh accused former state CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan of being a ‘power addict’ and also alleged that senior BJP leaders like Narottam Mishra and Vishwas Sarang were trying to abduct Congress MLAs.

Singh claimed that he had evidences against the two. He alleged that the BJP had offered Rs 100 crore to MLA Baijnath Kushwah and also planned his abduction.

In retaliation, BJP leader Narottam Mishra dared Singh to initiate legal action if he had the evidences of what he said while leader of opposition in Madhya Pradesh assembly Gopal Bhargava called Singh a leader who always talks big. Bhargava dubbed Singh a "gossipmonger" and said, "You must have never heard about such a huge amount. Everybody knows that Digvijaya Singh is a gossipmonger. He should not be taken seriously."

"You know that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had fallen by a vote. The BJP doesn't believe in such practice (horse-trading)," Bhargava added.

On the issue of reservation benefits to economically weaker sections of upper castes, Singh said on Tuesday that the Congress party was always in favour of reservation benefits to economically weaker sections of upper castes and alleged the proposal was nothing but yet another ‘jumla’ from the Modi government.

Speaking to the scribes at MP assembly’s media centre on Tuesday, Singh claimed that he personally and the Congress party was always of the view that economically weaker sections of upper castes should be extended reservation benefits on the lines of quota offered to SCs/STs and OBCs.

“Still, it’s another jumla from the Modi government,” he added.

“Adding up the 16% reservation offered to SCs and 7% to STs and 27% to OBCs, it amounts to 50% and any further reservation needs a constitutional amendment,” contested the two-time MP chief minister.

“PM Modi has tossed up another jumla, if you are really serious about this then bring a constitutional amendment,” he said while referring to the Narendra Modi led central government.