Locked in a tough battle after being virtually thrown into the ring for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, Union Agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar has landed in fresh soup after a series of videos, purportedly involving his son and some financial dealings, surfaced online.
Controversy broke out after two videos allegedly showed Tomar’s son Devendra Pratap Singh Tomar indulging in conversations over some illegal money dealings. While two of the videos purportedly feature Devendra, the third was released by the Congress on Tuesday, claiming that it was of Devendra in conversation with a Canada resident, Jagmandeep Singh.
Breaking his silence on the matter yesterday, the Union minister alleged that the Opposition was using fake videos to mislead the public and tarnish his image. “Today a fake video related to my son has gone viral on social media. This is part of a well-planned conspiracy being carried out by the opposition at the time of elections with the aim of misleading the public,” he said in a post on X.
“My son Devendra Pratap Singh Tomar had also appealed for police investigation in relation to such false videos. Today again I demand the CFSL agencies to investigate this video so that the truth can come out and the conspiracy can be exposed,” he added.
Devendra has also denied the allegations and filed a police complaint calling the videos fake. Devendra has been associate vice-president, Hockey India, and president, Association of Mixed Martial Arts, Madhya Pradesh.
The video released by Congress shows Canada resident Jagmandeep identifying himself as a blueberry and marijuana farmer. He then claims he used to “give cash to” BJP leader and former Akali Dal Delhi MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa. “Manjinder Singh Sirsa used to take the cash and route it through wire transfers to the mantri’s son,” Jagmandeep says, in an alleged reference to Devendra, adding “this is not a matter of Rs 500 crore. It is a total Rs 10,000 crore”.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Sirsa, a former chief of the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, claimed that he was being targetted for speaking against Congress’ CM face Kamal Nath.
“This is an attempt to malign the Gurdwara Committee. The Congress is against the Sikh community, and since I keep raising the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, they have targeted me. There have been no money transactions that are illegal. I will be sending legal notices to Congress leaders who have circulated this video,” Sirsa told IE.
The controversy involving Devendra comes just days before Tomar faces off against incumbent MLA Ravindra Singh Tomar from the Damini Assemly seat in the Morena region. The seat was won by Congress’ Girraj Dandotiya, who switched over to the BJP during the defection of Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. However, Dandotiya lost to Congress’ Tomar in the byelections that followed.
The entry of BSP candidate Balveer Dandotiya in the fray makes the contest even tougher for the Union minister who last contested Assembly elections 10 years ago. Tomar also faces resentment from his community over the action against some of its members over the murder of an individual from the Gurjar community. The houses of one accused member of the Tomar community was razed following protests by Gurjars.
Polling in Madhya Pradesh is scheduled for November 17 while the results will be declared on December 3.