The Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau conducted raids at the house of Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya, a BJP leader and former minister, less than two days after he signalled his intention to return to the Opposition Congress, Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra has alleged.
According to Congress sources, the ACB raids began at 9 am Tuesday, with teams scrutinising documents at three properties linked to Malviya.
A former Cabinet minister in the Ashok Gehlot government and an ex-MP from Rajasthan’s tribal seat of Banswara, Malviya had met Congress general secretary Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra, and Leader of the Opposition Tikaram Jully at the Constitution Club in Jaipur.
On his part, Malviya refused to comment on the ACB raid. However, Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra confirmed the development, calling it a “disgrace to democracy” and an instance of “misusing agencies for political vendetta”.
“Malviya ji was feeling uncomfortable in the BJP. He wanted to return to his mother’s party (Congress), where he would receive respect,” he said. “Nothing is happening in the BJP except deceit, lies, and dishonesty.”
Calls and text messages to the Anti-Corruption Bureau went unanswered.
Signalling his intention to switch earlier this week, Malviya had cited his “inability to do work under the BJP government” as the reason for the move. “There is no one in the BJP government who listens to the poor. MGNREGA payments have been pending for months, and farmers are not getting fertilisers. I have written to the chief minister and the state president several times, but no solution has been found. Hence, I have accepted that only Congress can uplift the public in the tribal areas,” he had told the media.
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Dotasra, however, said the decision had been left to a disciplinary committee.
