Nearly 30 Congress workers, including the party's Indore unit chief, were arrested on Friday for trying to stage a demonstration here over the audio-video clip of alleged speech of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
In the purported video clip, Chouhan was heard saying that the previous Congress government led by Kamal Nath was toppled at the behest of the BJP's central leadership.
A district official said that the administration had already asked the Congress leaders not to hold any protest in the city in view of the COVID-19 situation.
Nonetheless, the Congress workers, led by the party's city unit chief, Vinay Bakliwal, tried to stage a sit-in outside the collectorate, the official said.
Thirty Congressmen, including Bakliwal, were arrested and taken to the district jail by the authorities under section 151 of the CrPC. They were later released on the submission of a personal bond, the official said.
Before their arrest, the Congress leaders alleged that the BJP had dislodged the Kamal Nath government as part of a conspiracy.
In the clip released by the Congress, Chouhan is purportedly heard referring to the fall of the Kamal Nath government after 22 Congress MLAs, including minister Tulsiram Silawat, who belonged to Jyotiraditya Scindia's camp, switched sides. In the clip, Chouhan also admitted that the Congress government in the state was toppled on the instructions of central BJP leaders.
Although the authenticity of the video of Chouhan's recent speech in Indore was yet to be established, it has sparked a political row in the state.
