RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh Congress on Monday complained to the returning officer (RO) seeking cancellation of the candidature of Bharatiya Janata Party's Brahmanand Netam for the Bhanupratappur bypoll for allegedly concealing in his election affidavit a rape case registered against him.
The Congress had, on Sunday, claimed Netam is an accused in a rape case lodged in 2019 in neighbouring Jharkhand and that he had not mentioned its details in his election affidavit.
Netam had refuted the charges and termed it as the Congress' conspiracy to malign his image.
The December 5 bypoll to the Scheduled Tribe-reserved Bhanupratappur seat in Kanker district was necessitated due to the death of Congress MLA and deputy speaker of the Assembly Manoj Singh Mandavi last month.
On Monday, state Congress chief Mohan Markam reached the office of RO Sumit Agrawal, who is also Chief Executive Officer of Kanker Zila Panchayat, and submitted a complaint seeking cancellation of Netam's candidature.
"Netam has concealed the criminal offence registered against him in the election affidavit, which is a violation of the Representation of People Act 1951. Therefore, we have demanded the RO cancel his nomination," Markam told reporters.
"The true character of BJP has been exposed before the people. The act of the BJP to nominate a rape accused for the bypoll has brought shame to the entire state. It should apologise to the people of Bhanupratappur as well as Chhattisgarh," he added.
The state Congress has submitted a similar complaint to the Chief Electoral Officer in Raipur.
Markam has alleged Jharkhand police had lodged a case at Telco police station in Jamshedpur on May 15, 2019 about a 15-year-old girl being allegedly pushed into the flesh trade and raped by several persons.
He had alleged the case was lodged under sections 366 A, 376, 376 (3), 376 AB, 129B of the Indian Penal Code, sections 4 and 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and The Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.
As per Markam, five persons were held in the case initially, while Netam, a former BJP MLA and a native of Charama town in Kanker, and four others were also named as accused.
According to the Jharkhand police's report, Netam had allegedly raped the victim when she was brought to Raipur by other accused, Markam had claimed.
Rejecting the allegations, Netam had told reporters no such case was registered against him.
Meanwhile, Raipur district's Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prashant Agrawal has suspended constable Keshav Sinha, who was also named as accused in the same case.
Agrawal told PTI Sinha was placed under suspension after it came to light on Sunday he was an accused in the rape case lodged at Jharkhand's Telco police station in 2019.