Madhya Pradesh minister and BJP candidate Govind Singh Rajput has been booked for allegedly offering Rs 25 lakh to the polling booth from where he will win with maximum votes in the upcoming state polls, police said on Wednesday.
Sagar Collector Deepak Arya said the state revenue minister has been booked for poll code violation.
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“The FIR has been registered against Rajput, the BJP candidate from Surkhi assembly seat in Sagar, after an inquiry found the allegations against him to be true. He was booked under section 123 of the Representation of the People Act and section 188 of the Indian Penal Code,” he said.
Chief Election Officer Anupam Rajan said a complaint was received against the minister on the basis of a video in which he was heard telling people in village Hirankheda in Surkhi to not waste their votes on the Congress and instead vote for him. He further announced a reward of Rs 25 lakh to the polling booth from where he would win by the biggest margin.
The opposition Congress demanded that Rajput’s candidature be cancelled. MP Congress media cell head K K Mishra said the poll panel should take strict action against the BJP candidate.
Meanwhile, Rajput claimed that his remarks were distorted in a conspiracy against him. He also said the comments in question were made before the model code of conduct kicked in.
He said he had promised the sum from his MLA fund for various development work.
Rajput, who is considered a loyalist of Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, had quit the Congress in 2020 following the revolt by the Scindia scion. He later joined the BJP and won a by-election.
