Gwalior: Three back-to-back viral videos, which allegedly contain a conversation between Dwijendra, son of Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, and an NRI presumably based out of Canada over a number of different deals, valued at Rs 18 crore, Rs 21 crore, Rs 100 crore and Rs 10,000 crore embarrassed the BJP in Madhya Pradesh just before the assembly polls slated this year.
Despite Narendra Singh Tomar's comment in defence of his son, the issue has snowballed into a major controversy and is likely to deal a body blow to the BJP, electorally, sources said.
A harried BJP, however, brushed aside such a possibility as the state leader of the party, VD Sharma, has dismissed the video as 'fake' and alleged that the Congress, out to defame his party, deliberately released the clips to confuse voters before the upcoming elections.
Sharma said a complaint has been filed and an investigation is underway to ascertain the veracity of the video. Sharma slammed Congress for its 'manipulative means' to win elections. The leader accused Congress of being involved in corruption as, according to him, an amount of Rs 281 crore was seized during the 15 months that the party was in power. Dwijendra has also lodged a police complaint and labelled the video as fake.
The Congress alleged that in the video, the NRI is heard talking to Dwijendra, who has allegedly purchased 100 acres of land abroad for the cultivation of hemp. In the video, the person has identified himself as Jaiman Deep, who claimed to have been living in Canada.
The person claimed that he had known his 'friend' Dwijendra for twenty years and there was a money transaction with a mining company. He further claimed that during the lockdown, he went to India in March and met Dwijendra to discuss the cultivation of hemp and cannabis.
Soon after the latest video surfaced, Congress leader Digvijay Singh demanded that a forensic investigation into the viral video be conducted.
He also talked about having a chat with Narendra Singh Tomar's wife. There was also talk of some make-up, hemp and marijuana parcels.
The Opposition party also demanded a probe by the Enforcement Directorate and have also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to comment on the issue.
Party spokesperson Ragini Nayak presented videos to the reporters at a press meeting. Nayak alleged that the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh is known for taking a 50 per cent commission.
This is to the corruption allegations made by the Congress against the BJP in Karnataka prior to the May election, where they referred to them as the "40 per cent Sarkar". The Congress party emerged victorious in the southern state, securing 135 out of 224 seats and defeating the BJP.
Nayak dared the BJP to prove that those videos were fake. Rahul Gandhi during a rally in Bhopal accused the BJP of surpassing all corruption records. "Whose money it was? It was the people's money. it's clear to you why Bhopal has become the 'corruption capital' under BJP rule," Gandhi said.
