Raman Singh PS offered bribe to withdraw case against Ajit Jogi: BJP leader

Ajit Jogi

A Chhattisgarh BJP leader has accused CM Raman Singh’s personal secretary, O P Gupta, of offering him money to withdraw a case filed by him against former CM Ajit Jogi’s tribal status. The past two months have seen a furore about whether Jogi is a tribal or not, with a high-powered committee ruling that he was not one. The former Congress leader has now approached the High Court against the committee’s findings.

The Congress has maintained that the Jogis and the ruling dispensation are “hand in glove”, an accusation that the Chhattisgath Janata Congress has also made. Sant Kumar Netam, who filed the petition against Jogi, is a “middle-level leader” of the BJP, senior leaders said. “He is a tribal and wanted to fight against the Jogis from Marwahi, but was never given a ticket,” a leader said.

At a press conference on Saturday, Netam said he was called to the CM’s residence by Gupta and asked to take back the case. “I was told that he (CM) was angry that I was speaking against him, and that I should take a step back in the case against Jogi. He said that on my way out I would find Rs 1 lakh, but I refused to take it.”

Gupta called the allegations baseless, but said that Netam had been called to the CM’s residence after Netam expressed a desire to meet him. However, as a jandarshan programme was on, Netam had to wait, and angered by this, he left the residence. The Congress said that was proof that there were close ties between Singh and Jogi.