MP Congress complains to EC after video of BJP leader distributing money to girls goes viral
BHOPAL: The opposition Congress has submitted a complaint to the Election Commission after a video showing Madhya Pradesh food and civil supplies minister Bisahulal Singh distributing Rs 100 notes to little girls went viral on Monday.
The state Congress team led by in-charge for Election Commission related works JP Dhanopia submitted a complaint in the matter to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO-MP) in Bhopal on Monday, mentioning that distribution of currency notes to people amounts to corrupt practices aimed to influence voters.
“We’ve demanded from the EC that the cabinet minister Bisahulal Singh, who is also the possible BJP candidate from Anuppur assembly seat (one of the 28 seats going to by-polls on November 3) be banned from contesting the polls, removed as the cabinet minister and should be booked for violating the model code of conduct.
In the 27-second long video, the cabinet minister is seen distributing notes from a wad of Rs 100 notes amid pro-BJP slogans.
Rubbishing the complaint as baseless, Singh said, “The complaint represents the polluted mindset of Congress against a senior tribal leader like me. The video about which the Congress has submitted the complaint is an old one when I was a minister in the BJP government a few months back. At that time, neither the assembly by-polls dates were announced nor was the model code of conduct in force. Whenever I’ve been elected an MLA or made a minister, I’ve been welcomed by tribal people in villages. This video pertains to when I was welcomed after becoming minister in one of the villages. To mark any auspicious occasion, we perform Kanya Pujan and as part of it only, the little girls wielding urns in their hands are being given currency notes as ritualistic gift.”
Meanwhile, the Congress submitted another complaint on Monday, alleging that another MP cabinet minister and possible BJP candidate from Sanwer (SC) seat of Indore district Tulsiram Silawat had got names of 3000 bogus voters added in the voter list at a private medical college-hospital in Indore on Sunday.
“We’ve demanded the EC to enquire into the matter and act against those officials who worked as per the wishes of Tulsiram Silawat to add names of fake/bogus voters in the voter list on a holiday on Sunday,” Dhanopia said.
Both, Bisahulal Singh and Tulsiram Silawat, presently cabinet ministers in Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government were among the 22 Congress MLAs, whose resignation from the Vidhan Sabha and the Congress had led to the collapse of the Kamal Nath-led 15-months-old Congress government in March this year.