Bhopal, April 2 (IANS) The Opposition Congress in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday raised apprehensions over the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) intentions regarding the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in the state, following the conviction of Datia MLA Rajendra Bharti in a cheating and forgery case.
Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly, Umang Singhar, reacting to the developments after Bharti’s conviction by a Special MP-MLA court in Delhi, said: “The BJP’s intentions regarding the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for May in Madhya Pradesh are now becoming openly apparent.”
He accused the BJP of attempting to poach and bribe Congress MLAs to secure victory in the Rajya Sabha polls and alleged that when such efforts fail, old legal cases are being used against them.
“The sentencing and subsequent arrest in Delhi of Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti — representing Datia — in a 25-year-old case, while the ‘paid news’ case involving former BJP MLA Narottam Mishra has remained pending in the Supreme Court for years, clearly exposes a glaring double standard,” Singhar said in a statement.
He further said that the membership of Congress MLA Mukesh Malhotra, representing Vijaypur (Sheopur), had been terminated, thereby preventing him from voting in the Rajya Sabha elections.
“Simultaneously, the sudden reactivation of old legal cases against Semaria MLA Abhay Mishra and Bhopal Central MLA Arif Masood clearly demonstrates the BJP’s insatiable hunger for power,” Singhar alleged.
He added that attempts to win elections by intimidating MLAs, securing their convictions, and stripping them of legislative membership indicate that the BJP seeks to retain power through coercion rather than public mandate.
Notably, elections for three of the 11 Rajya Sabha seats from Madhya Pradesh are due, with the tenure of three members — including former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh and Union Minister George Kurian — ending on June 21, 2026.
Of the 11 Rajya Sabha seats from the state, the Congress currently holds three — Digvijaya Singh, Ashok Singh (also treasurer of the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee), and senior advocate Vivek Tankha.
This is the Congress’s only representation from Madhya Pradesh in Parliament at present, as the BJP has won all 29 Lok Sabha seats from the state and holds eight Rajya Sabha seats.
The current situation follows the conviction of Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti, who had defeated senior BJP leader and then state Home Minister Narottam Mishra in 2023.
Bharti was found guilty under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), and 471 (use of forged documents) of the Indian Penal Code.
The Special MP-MLA court in New Delhi sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment. However, the court granted him bail and 30 days to file an appeal before the High Court.
–IANS
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