Earlier today, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, while interacting with a group of journalists in Madhya Pradesh acknowledged his ‘mistake’ for wrongly dragging state Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in the Panama Paper leak case during his rally yesterday.
In presence of Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Jyotiradiya Scindia, Rahul Gandhi could be heard saying, “I go to Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan… and the BJP has carried out corruption on such large scale, (and involved in) so many scams that I got confused. Yesterday I got confused that Madhya Pradesh CM was involved in Panama Papers scam. But no, Madhya Pradesh CM is not involved in Panama Papers but he is involved in Vyapam and e-tender ‘scams’.” As can be seen in the video, Kamal Nath had to prompt Rahul Gandhi to ‘remind him’ about ‘e-tender scam’.
The BJP hit back at Congress President and said that Rahul Gandhi got confused by Congress’ scams and not that of the BJP.
.@RahulGandhi आप भाजपा के घोटाले से नहीं बल्कि कांग्रेस के घोटाले से कंफ्यूज हो गए हैं। मुख्यमंत्री @ChouhanShivraj और उनका परिवार अब मानहानि का केस आपके ऊपर करेंगे,उसके लिए तैयार रहे। 28 नवंबर को जनता @INCIndia को सबक भी सिखायेगी ही।#ShivrajSuesRahulhttps://t.co/O4LYP3OA7M
— BJP MadhyaPradesh (@BJP4MP) October 30, 2018
The BJP reiterated that Chouhan will file a defamation case against him and Congress will be taught a lesson on 28th November when the state goes to polls.
Rahul Gandhi while speaking at an election rally at Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh had targeted Shivraj Singh Chouhan saying that “rampant corruption” had been taken place in the state during Chauhan’s rule. He also claimed that the name of Chauhan’s son Kartikey Chauhan had figured in the Panama Papers but no action was taken against him.
“Udhar Chowkidar, Idhar Mamaji. Mamaji ke jo bete hai, Panama Papers me unka naam nikalta hai. (There is Chowkidar on one side and ‘mamaji’ on the other. The name of the son of ‘mamaji’ figured in Panama Papers),” Gandhi said.
Referring to Chouhan’s son Kartikey, Rahul Gandhi had said, “The name of former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif appears in Panama Papers. In a country like Pakistan, he is jailed. Here, the name of the son of a CM figures in Panama Papers but no action is taken.”
Agitated by his remarks, Shivraj Singh Chauhan had lashed out on Gandhi for falsely accusing him and his family of being involved in scams.
Madhya Pradesh is one of the five states to go to polls in the upcoming weeks along with Mizoram, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The elections to the Madhya Pradesh legislative assembly will be held on November 28 and the results will be announced on December 11, 2018. The BJP and Congress are fighting neck to neck in these states and victory in these elections will be a big boost to both BJP and Congress ahead of the general elections.
