Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh): Police, along with an excise team, raided the residence and other premises of the tribal Congress MLA from Pandhurna ST seat in Chhindwara Nilesh Uikey on Sunday. The action followed a complaint regarding hoarding of cash and liquor against the Congress leader.
However, police couldn’t recover any such illicit cash or liquor during the search. Upset, MLA Uikey has termed the search a ‘harassment’ and 'misuse of power’ by the BJP government.
According to Superintendent of Police Manoj Khatri, a complaint about hoarding of cash and liquor was received by the police. Following the same, a team of police and excise department personnel searched several places in Rajola Raiyat village on Sunday evening.
“The team returned after not finding anything at those places," he informed.”
Uikey, who represents the Pandhurna (ST) assembly seat in Chhindwara, reported that at approximately 4 p.m. on Sunday, the police and excise team "raided" his home and surrounding fields. He claimed that, despite spending three hours conducting the operation, they found nothing connected to the elections.
"At the time, I was campaigning, and when I got home to collect information, they had already finished the action. The BJP is acting hysterically, hoping to intimidate a tribal MLA out of fear of losing. "The tribal community is insulted by this," he declared. He further stated that the local tribal population would respond appropriately to this incident.
Jitu Patwari reacts...
Reacting to the matter, MP Congress President Jitu Patwari said, "This is harassment of the tribal MLA by the BJP and shows a dictatorial attitude.”
BJP accuses Nakul Nath of buying votes.
In response to questions over the claims, state BJP spokesman Pankaj Chaturvedi stated that the Congress frequently criticises the investigative authorities despite their adherence to legal requirements.
"It would be preferable if the Congress complied with Election Commission regulations and supported the investigative organizations. According to Chaturvedi, "a congressman was recently caught distributing money, and they are planning to distribute liquor."
The son of former state chief minister Kamal Nath, Nakul Nath, the Congress' candidate for the Lok Sabha election from Chhindwara, said that he intended to buy votes by giving out cash.
