Leader of Opposition in Madhya Pradesh State Assembly, Umang Singhar, on Saturday leveled several allegations against the ruling BJP and some of its ministers in Saurabh Sharma case, and said that a Congress delegation would try and meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apprise him too about the reality.

Former Constable of the Madhya Pradesh Transport Department, Saurabh Sharma, is currently lodged in the jail in Bhopal along with tow of his associates after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested all three in connection with the case of alleged disproportionate assets, cash and jewelry worth hundreds of crores that were unearthed during raids of the MP Lokayukta in December 2024, followed by subsequent raids by the ED, at various premises of Sharma in Bhopal and Gwalior.

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“I am writing a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji to meet him with (Congress) MLAs to apprise him about the rampant corruption plaguing the state,” Singhar said, while addressing media persons in Bhopal today.

The Congress leader said that he was writing to the PM to check the veracity of the PM’s claims that he has zero tolerance against corruption.

The PM is scheduled to be in Bhopal on the night of 23 February and morning of 24 February to inaugurate the two-day Global Investors Summit here on 24 February.

Umang Singhar alleged that former MP Transport minister Govind Singh Rajput is directly involved in the Saurabh Sharma case.

Singhar claimed that Rajput is the one who has been shielding Sharma and it was only due to the minister’s protection that Sharma roamed scot free for 41 days after arrest warrants were issued against him.

Singhar said that Rajput bought properties worth around Rs 1500 crore to 2000 crore in MP and also in the Defence Colony area of New Delhi between 2019 and 2024.

The Congress leader also claimed that Rajput concealed details of property worth Rs 134 crore in his affidavit submitted during the Assembly elections in 2023.

Singhar alleged that Rs two crore was sent to a union minister each month from the MP Transport Department.

Singhar also accused the MP BJP government of trying to protect Saurabh Sharma. He demanded that the CDR of Sharma’s mobile phone be made public, as that would bring out the names of many politicians and officers involved in the racket with Sharma.

Singhar also questioned where did Sharma spend the 41 days period when he was absconding and who was shielding him during that time.

Singhar demanded that the details of diaries confiscated from Sharma should also be provided, as those diaries also carry the names of many big shots involved in the scam.

Meanwhile, reacting to Singahr’s charges, MP BJP media cell chief Ashish Agrawal told a hurriedly convened press conference that Singhar was steeped in corruption.

“He is the same Umang Singhar who, when made the Congress in charge of Jharkhand, faced the accusation of selling tickets for Assembly polls there. These charges were leveled by none other than the Congress leaders there,” the BJP leader claimed.

“We deplore the Congress politics of issuing incorrect statements for publicity. The government is pursuing a zero tolerance policy against corruption,” Agrawal averred.

Saurabh Sharma’s father RK Sharma was a government doctor and died during service in 2015.

After that, Saurabh got appointed as a constable in the state transport department on compassionate ground in 2015 and took voluntary retirement in 2023. Subsequently he began his real estate business.

Sharma hit headlines in mid-December when the Lokayukta police seized assets worth nearly Rs 8 crore, including Rs 2.87 crore in cash, after raiding premises linked to him at different locations.

In a separate action on December 19, the I-T Department seized more than Rs 10 crore in cash and 52 kg of gold from a car owned by Sharma’s associate Chetan Singh Gaur on the outskirts of Bhopal.

The ED too is investigating the ill-gotten wealth of Sharma.

Govind Singh Rajput is currently the MP Cabinet minister for Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs.

He was the Transport Minister twice during 2018 and 2020 in the Kamal Nath-led Congress government and then subsequently in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP state government too.

Rajput was among the 22 Congress MLAs and ministers that resigned from the party in 2020, following their leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, and joined the BJP.