Police at Kamal Nath’s home over allegation that his assistant circulated fake video of BJP candidate

The Congress said Kamal Nath had nothing to do with the matter, and told The Indian Express that the police arriving at his residence was akin to “political terrorism”.

Sahu, who previously contested against Nath in the Assembly elections and lost, said his family was being targeted. “From my grandfather to my brothers, the Congress party has targeted all of us. Today, under a planned conspiracy, they tried to defame my family. I fold my hands and plead in front of you – the way Nakul Nath is your son, I am also Chhindwara’s son. I am fighting this election with my party’s ideology and you can fight too. But don’t defame the son of Chhindwara like this,” Sahu told reporters.

Nath has not commented on the matter so far.

Reacting to the allegations, Congress spokesperson K K Mishra said, “This is political terrorism. The BJP has accepted defeat in Chhindwara. They are unable to make any more gains and are now resorting to these tactics to try and win the seat by any method available.”

A senior party leader from Chhindwara said Kamal Nath’s name was being dragged into the matter to create an election issue. “Hardly 50 people turn up for Vivek Bunty Sahu’s rallies. Even senior leaders of the BJP who visit the district have been unable to make an impact. They have no issues, so are trying to drag his (Kamal Nath) name to create hype. This hype will be punctured,” the leader said.

Police filed an FIR under IPC sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 500 (defamation) and 120-(B) (criminal conspiracy), and section 67(A) of the IT Act. Kamal Nath’s PA, Mrignali, and one Sachin Gupta were named as accused.

The complainant, Sudesh Nagvanshi, who identified himself as a journalist in Chhindwara, alleged that on April 13, he was called by Gupta, purportedly another local journalist, to meet him. When he went, he was allegedly taken to meet Miglani.

According to the complaint, Miglani then allegedly showed Nagvanshi the video in question. “Then, Rajendra Kumar Miglani discussed with Sachin Gupta about making the video viral for Rs 30 lakh, and told me to make this video viral… I secretly recorded a video of this conversation using the Secret Video Recorder app…(Later), out of fear, I stopped the video recording,” the complainant claimed, as per the FIR.

He also said in the complaint that he informed Sahu about the incident, after which Sahu advised him to file a police report. “Rajendra Kumar Miglani and Sachin Gupta conspired to defame and gain political mileage by providing an obscene video of BJP candidate Vivek Bunty Sahu,” the complainant alleged.