Madhya Pradesh Assembly Elections: Hitting out at the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya on Wednesday claimed that a video in which Union minister Narendra Tomar’s son is purportedly heard discussing some financial dealings was a Congress's "ploy" and has been released from Canada where most of the sloganeering against India takes place.
Notably, Union Minister Tomar is considered a potential candidate for the Chief Minister's position if the BJP emerges victorious in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls scheduled for November 17.
'Released from Canada...'
Vijayvargiya further said that such tactics won't affect Narendra Tomar's electoral prospects as he will win comfortably from Dimni seat. “This video has been released from Canada where most of the sloganeering against India takes place. It is a conspiracy of Congress which wants to defame BJP during elections," Vijayvargiya said.
The BJP leader said that Narendra Tomar, once a corporator, rose to become a Union minister and his life was an open book.
Congress demands probe
The Congress has sought that the video of Tomar's son Devendra Pratap Singh Tomar in which he is purportedly talking to a man about crores of rupees should be probed by government agencies.
Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath said, "Three videos of the Union Minister and BJP candidate in the Assembly elections Narendra Singh Tomar's son have surfaced so far. The case, which allegedly started with a transaction of Rs 100 crore, has now reached a transaction of up to Rs 10,000 crore. In this, a direct connection with the drug trade and Canada is being shown."
The state Congress chief further said that this matter is no longer about any person or party, but seems to be directly linked to national security and drug trade. This should be investigated immediately to unravel the truth, he added. "...But the sad thing is that the entire national leadership of BJP is currently in Madhya Pradesh and no one is saying a single word on this issue related to national security that has arisen in the state," Kamal Nath stated, warning that Madhya Pradesh will not forgive those who are putting personal interests ahead of national interest.
A video purporting to show Union Minister Tomar's son and a "middleman" talking about several crore rupees went viral.
'Video is fake'
However, the BJP Union Minister Tomar has termed videos as fake and claimed that this is a "well-planned conspiracy" carried out by the opposition at the time of elections with the aim of misleading the public. Narendra Singh Tomar is contesting from the Dimani assembly seat in Madhya Pradesh's Morena district, elections to which will be held on November 17.
Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections
The election to the 230-member assembly in Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to be held on November 17, while counting of votes will take place on December 3.
In the 2018 assembly polls, Congress emerged as the single largest party by winning 114 seats while restricting the BJP to 109. The party under Kamal Nath formed a government with the support of BSP, SP, and Independent MLAs.
However, the Congress government fell after many MLAs under the leadership of Jyotiraditya Scindia, who later became a Union minister, joined the BJP. The BJP returned to power in March 2020 with Shivraj Singh Chouhan as chief minister for a fresh term. The BJP's current strength in the assembly is 127.
(With PTI inputs)
