With two BJP MPs from Madhya Pradesh caught in corruption related controversy, the state Congress has launched an attack on the party seeking response from Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and even questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The parliamentarians in the centre of the row are Ratlam-Jhabua MP Guman Singh Damor and Rewa MP Janardan Mishra. State BJP chief Vishnu Dutt Sharma told THE WEEK that both of them have clarified to him about the respective issues. The party stands for zero tolerance for corruption, he said.
In the first case, Damor has been served a notice by an Alirajpur court in an alleged corruption case of Rs 600 crores. The matter pertains to work under fluorosis control programme in 2006-07 in Jhabua district when Damor was executive engineer with the state public health engineering department (PHED).
The court of Alirajpur judicial magistrate first class (JFMC) has issued notices to Damor, erstwhile Jhabua district collector Ganesh Shankar Mishra and two other erstwhile officials of the PHED on the basis of a petition filed by a Mhow-based journalist. Alirajpur was then a part of Jhabua district.
The court also ordered to file an FIR against the said persons under Section 197 (issuing or signing a false certificate), 217 (public servant disobeying a direction of law with intent to save person from punishment), 269 (unlawfully does any act), 403 (misappropriation of property), 406 and 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) of IPC, sources said.
Damor was summoned to the BJP state headquarters on Monday, but he could meet state president V.D. Sharma only for a few minutes. When returning, media persons tried to question him, but the MP jostled against them and went away without replying. Later, when the video of this jostling went viral, Damor returned to the BJP office and tendered apologies to the media persons.
He also called the allegations against him baseless and said he was never posted in Jhabua/Alirajpur and wasn't involved in any scam. He also said no FIR has been registered against him yet.
The other controversy is related to Janardan Mishra's statement that no one should complain to him if panchayat representatives like sarpanchs were engaged in corruption up to Rs 15 lakh. Complaints should only be made if the corruption amount was more than this because the sarpanch needed about Rs 7 lakh to win the polls and had to prepare for the next poll too. A video of this statement, made in Rewa, went viral, following which he too was called for clarification by the BJP state chief.
After meeting Sharma, the MP issued a clarification saying that while making the statement he was targeting the people who accepted money and liquor in lieu of votes and thus encouraged corruption by elected representatives. Mishra said he wanted to tell people they can't complain if they themselves were engaged in corrupt behaviour. “No one can dare engage in corruption in the Modi government and I personally ask everyone around me to maintain political and personal sanctity,” he said in a video statement.
Congress spokesman K.K. Mishra tweeted on the issue saying, “PM says – na khaunga, na khaane dunga (won't engage or allow corruption). Shivraj ji threatens to bury corrupt people in 10-feet deep craters. But Rewa MP Janardan Mishra justifies corruption up to Rs 15 lakh and Ratlam-Jhabua MP G.S. Damor gets FIR registered in a Rs 600 crores scam. Mr PM, these two MPs share the floor of Parliament with you?”
Another spokesman Narendra Saluja tweeted with a video of Damor jostling with media persons to say, “Accused of Rs 600 crore corruption, BJP MP Guman Singh Damor is running away from media, not even able to give replies. It seems he had come to wash himself clean in the washing machine of the BJP office. Entire BJP is silent on his corruption. Why hasn't he resigned yet?”
20-30% commission in panchayat works: Digvijaya
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday meanwhile added to the row, alleging that a commission of 20-30 per cent was taken for all panchayat related works from village to district levels under the current BJP government. Speaking to media after the Congress foundation day function in Bhopal, he also alleged that this collection was done by people under the panchayat minister (Mahendra Singh Sisodia). Sisodia is a Jyotiraditya Scindia loyalist, who switched camp in March 2020 to BJP.
BJP state president Vishnu Dutt Sharma told THE WEEK that both the MPs had given clarification to him. Damor has said that no charges have been pressed against him and he was not even posted in Alirajpur/Jhabua and was not involved in any scam. The MP told Sharma that he will give due reply to the notice of the court.
“However, our stand is clear that we have zero tolerance for corruption. Corruption cannot be justified in any way and whatever Mishra has said is wrong. I have spoken to both the leaders and they have given their clarifications to me. They have also issued clarifications to the media separately,” Sharma said.
