MP bypolls: Some govt officials supporting BJP, says Digvijaya Singh

Bhopal, Oct 16: Ahead of bypolls to 28 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh on November 3, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh on Friday met poll officials alleging some government officials were supporting the ruling BJP.

He said the bypolls were very important as the fate of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, which came to power in March, depends on how many of the 28 seats the BJP can win.

"These bypolls will decide whether the current government remains in power or not. Shivraj Singh Chouhan himself is claiming he is a temporary CM and is exhorting people to ensure permanency to his government," Singh said after meeting the state''s chief electoral officer along with his colleague JP Dhanopia.

Singh said 26 out of 28 BJP candidates in the bypolls were part of the Congress previously and the saffron party had even put up posters about their "dishonesty" in the 2018 Assembly polls.

In such a scenario, Chouhan and the BJP are wary if the people and party workers will vote for them.

"Therefore, the MP government has handed over campaign responsibilities to officials, especially police", Singh claimed, adding that complaints along with proof about several such officials had been given to poll authorities.

"In Dimni, the Congress candidate''s brother was beaten up, In Sumavali, a party worker''s vehicle was damaged. Dinara police station is registering cases against Congress workers. A Sahrai police station official is openly telling people to vote for the BJP," Singh claimed.

The chief electoral officer has appointed an IAS officer to probe complaints within 24 hours, Singh told reporters after meeting poll officials.

He said the Congress had objected to the Indore civic chief being asked to probe one such complaint against herself, "which is a mockery of the system".

"We have also complained about a BJP MLA distributing cash in Sanwer, and another asking people to vote for BJP in return for Rs 10,000," Singh alleged.

MP BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal termed these allegations as baseless and said Singh should allow government officials to work and not "terrorise" them.

"Government officials are working as per rules and will continue to do so. Election Commission officials must not come under pressure from the Congress. They must conduct polls in a free and fair manner," Agrawal said.