Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The allegation of an alleged '50 per cent' commission against Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government in Madhya Pradesh has heated up the politics in a poll-bound state much like what was witnessed ahead of the Karnataka Assembly elections held earlier.
Enraged with allegations made through social media posts, the BJP in Madhya Pradesh has lodged FIRs in 41 districts and has accused the Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Kamal Nath of conspiring to malign the image of the state government by sharing ‘misleading’ social media posts. The Indore police on Saturday night registered a case against the Twitter handles of Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi, Kamal Nath and Arun Yadav over a controversial social media post that alleged corruption in Madhya Pradesh's BJP government, a police official said. The FIR also names one Gyanendra Awasthi and others on the basis of their names on their respective Twitter handles.
The case was registered under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating) and 469 (forgery with intent to harm reputation) on a complaint by Nimesh Pathak, convenor of the Indore unit of BJP's legal cell. Pathak alleged that the Congress leaders conspired to malign the image of the state government and his party by sharing misleading social media posts falsely accusing the BJP regime in the state of being involved in corruption.
The official said the police are verifying the authenticity of the respective Twitter handles. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Ramsanehi Mishra claimed that an FIR (first information report) has been registered against Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Kamal Nath and Arun Yadav at Sanyogitaganj police station in the city.
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On Friday, Priyanka Gandhi claimed on X, which was earlier known as Twitter, that a union of contractors from Madhya Pradesh has written a letter to the Chief Justice of the High Court, complaining that they receive payment only after paying 50 per cent commission. The corrupt BJP government in Karnataka used to collect 40% commission. In Madhya Pradesh, BJP has gone ahead by breaking its own record of corruption.
People of Karnataka ousted the 40% commission government, and now the people of Madhya Pradesh will remove the 50% commission government from power, she alleged in the post. Nath and Yadav also made similar posts. Terming Priyanka Gandhi's allegation false, MP Home Minister Narottam Mishra earlier sought proof from the Congress leader to support her charge, warning that options were otherwise open before the state government and the BJP for legal action.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the opposition party was spreading lies. On Friday evening, the Gwalior police registered a case against a few people in connection with Priyanka Gandhi's post. In response to the FIRs, former Chief Minister and Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath on Sunday appealed to the party workers to “stand against corruption and uproot this 50 per cent commission rule".In a social media post, Kamal Nath said, “FIRs were lodged by BJP leaders in various districts of the state against Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi, Jairam Ramesh and myself. The BJP government, which is called ‘commission raj’, cannot investigate corruption, but can persecute those who raise apprehension.” Senior Congress spokesperson Santosh Singh alleged that after the ‘commission of 50 per cent’ came to the fore, the BJP has "freaked out". Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tanka accused the state police of being ‘biased’ and acting on behalf of the BJP government in registering FIRs against the Congress leaders.“MP police avoided the allegation of favouritism. (Agencies)
