In Rajasthan, BJP and Congress investigate their legislators accused of taking bribe to release MLALAD funds

As per a Dainik Bhaskar ‘sting’ operation, BJP MLA from Khinvsar in Nagaur, Rewant Ram Danga, Congress MLA from Hindaun in Karauli, Anita Jatav, and Independent MLA from Bayana in Bharatpur, Ritu Banawat, allegedly agreed to take commissions for recommending development works from their MLA LAD fund.

All three are first-time MLAs, and they have rejected the allegations. In Rajasthan, MLAs get Rs 5 crore annually under LAD funds.

The Chief Minister said, “In this case, the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police have been directed to conduct an investigation through a high-level committee chaired by the State Chief Vigilance Commissioner (the Additional Chief Secretary, Home). The MLA LAD accounts of these Assembly constituencies have been frozen.” ACS Home, Bhaskar A Sawant, will head a four-member committee that has been asked to submit its report to the Chief Secretary in 15 days.

Additionally, the implementation and payment processes for all the works recommended and approved by the three MLAs have been put on hold.

Earlier in the day, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot termed the development “extremely serious and concerning”. Urging CM Sharma and Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani to “immediately take cognisance of this matter and order a high-level investigation into it”, he said, “For public representatives, integrity and honesty in public life should be paramount.”

MLA Danga said, “The news report against me is baseless and devoid of facts. A person came to me 4-5 times. He was repeatedly seeking approval, and I had clearly told him no. He was forcefully trying to give me money, telling me to accept it as a ‘gift’. But I told him that I will not accept money, nor would I give approval. I said that I will give approval only as per the demands of locals, as it is public money. I didn’t ask for money, nor did I take any money.”

BJP state president Madan Rathore issued a notice to Danga asking him to reply within three days. Rathore’s notice to Danga said that as per the ‘sting’ operation conducted by the media house, “You accepted a bribe to secure funds from the MLA fund for development work. Your actions fall within the definition of indiscipline as defined in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s constitution.”

“Therefore, you should submit your explanation regarding the allegation to the undersigned within three days, as to why strict action should not be taken against you for violating the discipline mentioned in the constitution of the Bharatiya Janata Party,” Rathore’s notice said.

Congress MLA Anita Jatav said, “All these allegations are wrong and baseless. We haven’t done any such thing. This has been done to defame me; I will file a defamation case. Tell me if I have made any demands in the video. The person who wrote this came to me several times, and I had clearly told him no. I said that I don’t have any funds left. I don’t take a single rupee,” she said, claiming that it was possible to create fake conversation as “there is AI and fake news today”.

Congress state in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawas has directed the Congress state president, Govind Singh Dotasra, to conduct an inquiry into the allegations against Jatav and submit a report in seven days.

Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully said, “An investigation is being conducted by issuing a notice to MLA Smt Anita Jatav. We also demand that the government rise above party politics and conduct investigations against all guilty MLAs to bring the facts to light.”

Independent MLA Ritu Banawat said a person was trying to contact her in Jaipur and in her Assembly constituency for the last six months, but that she didn’t give him time. Terming it a conspiracy, she claimed that she neither took any money nor issued any letter of recommendation. “I specifically told him that this will malign my image and hence I will not do it. There was no discussion on exchange of money. He himself kept speaking and we listened. We were talking at the same spot where I meet people publicly; if there was something, then I would have spoken to him separately,” the legislator said.

She claimed that she had already recommended works from her whole LAD funds and demanded proof or an apology from the newspaper, stating that failing this, she would approach the High Court for defamation.

Government Chief Whip Jogeshwar Garg, too, wrote a letter to Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani, saying that as “this matter concerns the members of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, it is the privilege of the House to take cognisance of this matter and investigate it in accordance with parliamentary decorum, moral conduct and established traditions. Therefore, it is requested that the said case against the concerned MLAs may be referred for investigation before the Ethics Committee of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly, so that an impartial, transparent and legal investigation of the matter can be ensured.”

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