Varanasi: BJP MLC candidate from Varanasi seat, Dr Sudama Patel, who has been pitted against independent candidate Annapurna Singh, wife of mafia don Brijesh Singh, alleged that he has been facing a big challenge as a BJP candidate. "They (Brijesh Singh and his wife) are creating the impression among voters that their candidate belongs to BJP. But BJP will never accept their claims because he (Brijesh) has a criminal background of several years. How could he say that he belongs to BJP," Dr Patel said.
"Brijesh Singh has an empire running into several thousand crores, but after Modi Ji came to power everything became online. Earlier, no one was keeping tabs on the unaccounted money. People were making money through ill-gotten way and it was not known to the authorities," he said. Shrugging off any fearful disposition from Brijesh Singh, BJP MLC candidate Dr Patel said, "Brijesh Singh's wife is fighting the MLC election, I don't have any problem with that. But, the only thing is that her husband lodged in the Central Jail is calling the shots from prison. Fear is prevailing among voters due to his (Brijesh) proximity to the area."
Dr Patel claimed that he was offered Rs 5 crore by Brijesh Singh to not contest. "I would have taken the money and not contested. But I didn't do that. Hence, no question of mine being scared of Brijesh Singh," he said. Sharing his experience at Bhadoi, Dr Patel said, "When I was talking to 20-30 members of BDCs there, some received threatening phone calls questioning them why they were interacting with me. Soon people started disappearing from the spot. Only 4-5 people were left," he said.
