Madhya Pradesh CM Uma Bharti just can’t have enough of controversies. The latest in a series of dramas climaxed last night with the protagonist surfacing to embarrass the government after a senior minister claimed he could have been kidnapped and even killed as part of a Congress plot.The matter came to light on June 22, when Digvijay Singh forwarded a complaint by Gwalior-based businessman Shyamsunder Gupta to Bharti. Gupta alleged that on June 7, he was called to a Gwalior hotel at the behest of Ashok Goel, a Delhi businessman, and forced to return a cheque of Rs 27 lakh, for money due to him. This, he said, was done by Bharti’s nephew Siddhartha Lodhi and his strongman Pritam. When asked, Goel denied knowing Siddhartha and the latter himself said he was not in Gwalior on June 7. With little or nothing to confirm Siddhartha’s presence in Gwalior at the time of the incident, Digvijay again raised the matter and passed several ‘‘off-the-record remarks’’ about Uma’s advisor Shailendra Sharma. Sharma decided to counter Digvijay’s remarks by fielding Agriculture Minister Gopal Bhargava at a press conference.Bhargava, a senior Cabinet minister, turned what was till then a slanging match into a PR disaster for Uma Bharti. He said Gupta had gone missing and he feared for Gupta’s life. He further alleged that there could be a Congress plot to kidnap or even kill Gupta and that it should be probed.Hours later, Gupta surfaced in Gwalior and dispelled all of Bhargava’s allegations, saying he had been at his house till Bhargava’s press conference. He further alleged that he perceived danger to his life from the same people (read Siddharta Lodhi) who had taken away the cheque at the hotel.
