Rajasthan MLA Bribery Arrest: Rajasthan's Anti-Corruption Bureau on Sunday said it arrested first-time MLA Jaikrishn Patel, 37, for allegedly accepting a Rs 20-lakh bribe in lieu of withdrawing Assembly questions on mining. The ACB said this is the first instance of it arresting an MLA in the state. ACB Director General Ravi Prakash Meharda told journalists that Patel, the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) MLA from Bagidora in Banswara district, and middleman Vijay Kumar Patel were caught “red-handed” at the MLA quarters in Jaipur while accepting the bribe. However, just before he was nabbed, the MLA managed to hand over the money to an aide who escaped, Meharda said. According to the ACB Director General, complainant Ravindra Kumar alleged that the MLA was accusing him of illegal mining, pressuring him by listing questions on mining in the Assembly, and demanding money to withdraw the questions. “The complainant has mines and the three questions put up by the MLA are also related to mines, even though the complainant’s mines are hundreds of kilometres away from the MLA’s constituency,” the DG said. The mines in question are in Todabhim, about 600 kilometres from Banswara, and are owned by Kumar and his father, BJP leader Ramniwas Meena. In the 2023 Assembly election, Ramniwas had unsuccessfully contested from Todabhim, losing to Congress’s Ghanshyam Mahar. Negotiations between the MLA and the complainant had started with Rs 10 crore, but eventually came down to Rs 2.5 crore, Meharda said. The plan to trap the MLA has been underway for a month and the first instalment of Rs 1 lakh was given to him earlier in Banswara — the ACB had recorded the incident — and the second instalment of Rs 20 lakh was being given on Sunday when the MLA was arrested, the ACB said. According to the DG, an ACB team under the supervision of Deputy Inspector General Rahul Katakey verified the claims and executed the trap. While the MLA’s aide managed to escape, there is “enough and clear” evidence to nab the MLA, the DG said. He explained that when the MLA’s hands were washed, the water changed colour, proving that he had handled the chemical-laced currency notes. Patel was elected from Banswara district’s Bagidora Assembly seat, reserved for tribals, in a bypoll last year, defeating the BJP candidate by a margin of over 51,000 votes. After Patel’s arrest, BAP MP Rajkumar Roat suggested a conspiracy: “You can see for yourself the manner in which the BAP has quickly grown in the region and made tall leaders sit at home. So, it is natural that they will conspire. Why did that person agree to give away Rs 2.5 crore? He’s also a part of the conspiracy.” “I am not saying that the MLA is innocent,” Roat added. He said the party’s core committee would hold a meeting and listen to the MLA before deciding on a course of action. The ACB DG said that since the matter concerned an MLA, Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani was briefed before the trap was set and Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, who is also the Home Minister, was informed. The Bagidora bypoll was necessitated last year after Congress heavyweight and four-term MLA from the seat, Mahendra Jeet Singh Malviya, resigned from his post and joined the BJP. Including Patel, BAP currently has four MLAs and one MP, Rajkumar Roat, who was elected in alliance with the INDIA bloc last year.