Veteran Congress leader Digvijay Singh Tuesday claimed the BJP had offered Rs 100 crore to a Congress MLA in Madhya Pradesh to topple the Kamal Nath Government.
The BJP, in response, dared Singh to prove his allegations and also tried to run down the former MP CM's claims as irrelevant.
While talking to media persons in the State assembly premises, Singh said, “BJP MLA Narayan Tripathi contacted Sabalgarh (Morena district) MLA Baijnath Kushwah (of Congress) and took him to a dhaba (eatery), where former ministers Narottam Mishra and Vishwas Sarang (both from the BJP) met him (Kushwaha). They offered Rs 100 crore to Kushwah to topple the government. He was also offered ministerial post in the new BJP government.”
He further alleged that the BJP had made such offers to several Congress MLAs. "The BJP leaders told Kushwah to come with them as a chartered plane was ready. But he refused to go with them," Singh said, adding that Shivraj Singh Chouhan is dazed as he is unable to digest defeat.
Meanwhile, BJP MLA Narottam Mishra said, "He has been making such allegations for a long time. This is merely a publicity stunt. Digvijay Singh should take legal action if he has proof." Leader of Opposition Gopal Bhargava dubbed Singh a gossipmonger and said, "You must have never heard about such a huge amount. Everybody knows that Digvijay Singh is a gossipmonger. He should not be taken seriously."
"You know that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had fallen by a vote. The BJP doesn't believe in such practice (horse-trading)," Bhargava added.
BJP MLA Vishwas Sarang, also named by Digvijay Singh in his allegations, dared the Congress leader to prove them. "He should prove in which dhaba this meeting took place. There is a Congress government in MP and it should take action. Digvijay should show the video of the incident," Sarang said.