Not the first time BJP bribed people, says Manish Tiwari

Pointing out that Narendra Patel, who claimed last evening that he had been offered ₹1 Crore by the BJP to join its ranks, was neither a Congressman nor belonged to any rival political party, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari described the disclosure as a blot on democracy.

“The allegations of bribery is not from any rival political party but from a member of an organisation which launched a movement for certain demands”, he said while refuting reactions by BJP leaders who said that the drama had been staged by the Congress on the eve of Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the state.

Patel, a close associate of Hardik Patel who has been leading an agitation by the Patidars, had claimed last evening that he was escorted to the BJP office in Gandhinagar to see the BJP state chief Jitubhai Bhagani and a few ministers. He was then taken to a room and handed over cash worth ₹10 lakh as advance with the promise of delivering ₹90 more lakh after he attended a public function of the BJP. Patel showed wads of currency notes which he claimed had been given to him.

The disclosure was followed by a press conference on Monday when Nikhil Savani, another close associate of Hardik Patel, announced that he was resigning from the BJP after Narendra Patel’s disclosure. Savani, who had joined the BJP with two other Patidar activists barely 48 hours ago, claimed he was disgusted at reports that the party was buying support.

In Delhi, former union minister and Congress spokesman Manish Tewari claimed this was the third incident in the last 24 hours which are indicative of ‘ ignorance, arrogance and frustration’ within the BJP.

“This is not an isolated incident. During the Rajya Sabha election in Gujarat in August this year also the BJP did the same thing and three Congress MLAs had informed the media that they were being offered money,” he said.

It was not confined to just bribery but the Modi led government had used the whole government machinery from IT to CBI raids at the resort where Congress MLAs were staying ahead of the Rajya Sabha election in Gujarat, he recalled .

Tewari also criticised the Prime Minister’s threat delivered in Gujarat on Sunday when he declared that the Centre would not give a Rupee to any state that opposed ‘Vikas’ or development.

“The Prime Minister insulted 6.5 Crore Gujaratis by hinting that he would give money only to those states who would vote for Modi’s Vikas. But public money is not any one’s private property and such threats constitute an assault on Centre-State relations and federalism,” the Congress spokesman added.