SHAHJAHANPUR: A video has gone viral in which an Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA is purportedly shown asking a villager to allegedly swear that the man had voted for the saffron party, when the legislator was requested to install lights in his home.
In the video that went viral on Monday, Veer Vikram Singh (Prince), the MLA from Katra Assembly constituency in Shahjahanpur, was addressing a tree plantation programme held recently and listing the development works done by him when a villager had requested him to install lights at his home.
To this, the legislator said, "You swear either pointing towards river Ganga or by your son and say that you have voted for us (BJP), and I will get the lights installed at your home. You expect something from a person, whom you have given something."
As the villager said that he was just making a request, the BJP MLA replied, "Request that person, whom you had given something. Had you given (me your vote), you would have the right to stand on my chest. Don't try to fool me. My father has been a four-time MLA. I am an MLA."
"Do you think that I don't know how many votes I have got at each booth. You could have complained, if you had voted for me, and I had not provided you lights," the legislator further said in the video.
Speaking to PTI later on the issue, Singh said, "The villager was exerting pressure on me to install lights in his home. The cost of such lights is Rs 10 lakh. In this situation, the lights can be installed at public places under a government scheme."
Reacting to the statement, former SP MLA Rajesh Yadav said, "After winning the elections, an MLA is a representative for everybody. Who has voted for him, and who has not voted does not count. Indulging in vote politics, and asking people to swear by such things does not suit an MLA."