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A case has been registered against Madhya Pradesh Transport and Revenue Minister Govind Singh Rajput for "violation of Mode Code of Conduct" in force in the state for the assembly polls next month.
Congress has demanded his removal over "open and blatant offer that he will pay Rs 25 lakh" to the booth where most votes are cast in favour of the ruling party in the state. According to the FIR, the action was taken following the report of the Returning Officer of the Surkhi assembly constituency. The case was registered against the minister in Rahatgarh police station in Sagar district under IPC section 188 and section 123 of the Representation of the People Act. Govind Singh Rajput is contesting elections from Surkhi assembly seat in the district. A purported video of Minister Rajput went viral in which he is seen announcing to give Rs 25 lakh to the polling booth "which gets the most votes" for BJP in the upcoming elections. Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi, senior party leader and former Mahila Congress chief Shobha Oza urged the Election Commission to bar Rajput from contesting the elections alleging that "he had openly resorted to corrupt practices by offering money to people". The Congress leader claimed that this was the result of the realization on part of the BJP that it was losing the electoral battle in Madhya Pradesh. She alleged that the ruling party in the state had "now started resorting to such blatant inducements with huge cash". "He needs to be questioned and asked for the source of this huge amount of money that he was offering to his election booth in-charges," she said. Oza alleged that another BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, who is national general secretary of the party, had offered Rs 51,000 to "agents in the booths where the Congress does not get any vote". Oza also claimed that Rajput is close to Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. "We demand the Governor (Mangubhai Patel) to dismiss Rajput and investigate the charges against him," she said. Madhya Pradesh will undergo assembly polls on November 17 and the counting will take place on December 3. (ANI)
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