In a first of kind action in Rajasthan, the Anti Corruption Bureau of the state has trapped a sitting MLA, Jai Krishna Patel (BAP) from Bagidora constituency of Banswara, for taking bribe “for dropping an assembly question about a mining lease Karauli -Toda Bhim area”.
Sleuths of the ACB caught the legislator red-handed at his MLA quarters flat here Sunday while taking Rs 20 lakh the first installment of the bribe deal. As per the deal, he was to be paid Rs 2 crore in installments for dropping the question in reference, an ACB officer of additional SP said.
The arrested legislator was later taken to the ACB headquarters here for further questioning and related legal procedures.
Rajasthan Minister of State for Home (MoS) Jawahar Singh Bedham has confirmed the arrest of the MLA. He said, “This incident of trapping should be a matter of concern as well as an issue for introspection for the entire political leadership of the state.”
Bharatiya Tribal Party (BAP) chief and the sitting Lok Sabha member from the Banswara – Dungarpur (ST) parliamentary constituency Rajkumar Roat suspected political conspiracy against the newly-emerged political entity. “I still do not have first-hand information from MLA Patel, I am gathering facts. Meanwhile, we have convened a meeting of our party later in the day to discuss this issue,” he added.
The ruling BJP’s state president, Madan Rathore, condemned the incident as “ugly blot on the political image of Rajasthan, which otherwise is having a clean and good reputation so far”.