DEHRADUN: Rubbishing allegation by two Congress MLAs that BJP had offered them a bribe of upto Rs 50 crore to switch their loyalty, the saffron party today asked them to produce evidence to substantiate the charge or offer an unqualified apology.
Alleging that a sudden eviction from power had caused most Congress leaders to lose their mental balance, Pradesh BJP president Ajay Bhatt said they are levelling "wild allegations" like this against the party to divert public attention from real issues.
"Their own former CM was caught live on camera negotiating a money deal to buy back disgruntled party MLAs.
An earlier sting CD had shown a top CMO official negotiating a bribery deal with a liquor baron. It is in a bid to divert attention from these that they (Congress MLAs) are making unfounded allegations against BJP.
"It seems a sudden ouster from power has knocked them out of their senses and they are making meaningless noises to confuse people," Bhatt told PTI.
"Even Harish Rawat had accused the BJP of depositing Rs 25 crore into the accounts of nine rebel MLAs which prompted Vijay Bahuguna to slap a court case against him," he said, adding it seems Congress leaders have lost their head.
Alleging that buying and selling is Congress's culture not BJP's, Bhatt said the stand is vindicated by an Italian court's latest order which has "indicted" top Congress leaders like Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh in the AgustaWestland helicopter deal.
Chief BJP spokesman Munna Singh Chauhan also reacted sharply to the allegations by the two Cong MLAs saying they should either come up with proof to substantiate their charge or offer an unqualified apology for making a "baseless allegation" against the party.
"They are just hurling a wild allegation. They should produce evidence to prove the charge or offer an unqualified apology immediately," Chauhan told PTI.
Congress MLA from Badrinath Rajendra Bhandari and its MLA from Tharali Jeet Ram had yesterday alleged that they had been offered a bribe of upto Rs 50 crore, an assembly ticket to a family member and a Rajya Sabha seat by the BJP in exchange for their support.
Said to be close to BJP heavyweight Satpal Maharaj, the two legislators asserted they were devoted soldiers of the Congress party and cannot be bought.