Rajya Sabha Congress member Ranjib Biswal does not rule out a charge against certain MlAs of his party in the last Assembly that they demanded money from him for his elections to the Upper House of Parliament last year.
Biswal admitted that he was asked to pay money during his election to the Rajya Sabha while participating in a one-to-one conversation with a local television channel.
Asked whether the concerned MlA was former leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh, Biswal refused to take any name.
“It is a fact that some MlAs had asked for help as the general elections were approaching. I did not pay anyone but assured them to help during polls with help of the party high command,” Biswal said.
Biswal also admitted that the matter was informed to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi through different means though he did not make any allegation against anyone directly.
Biswal got support of all the 27 Congress MlAs last year and was elected to the Rajya Sabha. Though he claimed not to have given money to any MlAs, all of them voted for him. This was because it was an open vote and not secret ballot.
Subsequently, Bhupinder Singh resigned from the Congress and joined the ruling BJD. later, Singh was elected to the Rajya Sabha as a BJD member.