New Delhi: Congress today approached Election Commission seeking action against Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan accusing him of violating the model code of conduct by “alluring” a party leader to seek votes from a particular community in by-election for Garoth Assembly constituency.
A party delegation led by AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh also submitted an audio tape purportedly carrying the voice of the Chief Minister in which he is believed to be talking to a party worker. Vouching for the genuineness of the audio, Singh said that since the BJP has declared it fake, he would like the Election Commission (EC) to get the CD examined in any forensic lab. “If this audio is fake, I take full responsibility for it,” Singh said after playing the audio at the AICC briefing. He said the audio was the recorded conversation between Chauhan and a BJP leader Rajesh Chaudhary in which the Chief Minister is heard “alluring” the latter to seek vote from a particular community and get votes for the BJP, promising that Chaudhary will be suitably awarded for it.
“He (Chauhan) is seeking the votes in the name of caste and community. The Chief Minister is a public servant and apart from the electoral offenses, other offenses are also made out against him. It is, therefore, requested that immediate legal action for violation of model code of conduct may be taken against him,” the Congress delegation said in the representation.
By-election for Garoth Assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to be held there tomorrow. Singh claimed that Chauhan was talking to the BJP leader in this context. Party general secretary in-charge for Madhya Pradesh Mohan Prakash said, “the way government machinery is being misused in Madhya Pradesh Assembly bypolls and the way CM himself is luring leaders for votes, we want the EC to take special steps to ensure free and fair elections tomorrow.”
Singh alleged that the Chief Minister was luring Choudhary by offering him a government post and asking him to ensure the support of Porwal jaati instead. Meanwhile, Congress has also decided to pursue a petition, it had filed before the Election Commission sometime back, seeking action against Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar for allegedly concealing about a 2006 FIR in his election nomination papers and urged the poll body to initiate proceedings against him.
AICC Legal Department Secretary K C Mittal said the party will follow it up with the EC as no action has come so far on the complaint made before the poll panel about Parrikar. The FIR was filed against Parrikar in Goa in 2006 for alleged financial misappropriation while creating infrastructural facilities for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in 2004, when Goa for the first time hosted the mega film festival.
