Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday kept public focus on viral video clips of Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar’s son Devendra Singh Tomar “discussing transactions” worth hundreds of crores of rupees with an alleged middleman. He wanted to know when the ED, CBI and IT would be investigating the matter. He was speaking at an election rally in Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh. Mr. Tomar has spoken out about the allegations and called it a “conspiracy”.
Union Minister Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar termed the episode a “well-planned conspiracy” by the Opposition in a post on X.
He said, “Today a fake video related to my son has gone viral on social media. This is part of a well-planned conspiracy by the opposition close to the elections with the aim of misleading the public.”
“Earlier, my son Devendra Pratap Singh Tomar also sought police investigation into these false videos. Today again I demand CFSL agencies investigate this video, so the truth can come out and the conspiracy can be exposed,” he wrote in a post.
The first clip started doing the rounds on social media on November 7th and the second clip landed on Monday. Several national and State BJP leaders held numerous rallies across Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, including three rallies and a roadshow by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari’s held three rallies each. M.P. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan held more than 10 events, and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath held four. Mr. Narendra Singh Tomar too held five roadshows and rallies. The BJP leaders, however, did not touch on the controversy related to Mr. Tomar’s son.
On Monday State BJP president V. D. Sharma claimed the video was “fake” and it was released because the Congress “did not have any issue left”. After the first video surfaced, Mr. Devendra called it “fake and doctored” and registered a complaint with Morena Police. According to a police officer in Morena, Mr. Devendra alleged a conspiracy to defame him and his family.
Mr. Gandhi asked the rally in Vidisha on Tuesday afternoon, if they had seen Mr. Tomar’s videos. “He is counting hundreds of crores of rupees like kids count marbles. This is not Mr. Tomar’s money. This is your money,” he said. He flagged the episode to underline what he termed as “BJP Ka Bhrashtachar” or BJP’s corruption. The BJP, he said, stole the mandate in 2018, because they want to steal money from the people of Madhya Pradesh. Mr. Gandhi said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi said demonetisation will finish black money. I want to know what colour is the money that Mr. Tomar’s son is talking about?”
He exhorted the crowd to ask the Prime Minister a question. “Next time Mr. Modi comes here, ask him, when he plans to start the ED, CBI and IT investigation into Mr. Tomar’s son.”
Mr. Gandhi raised the issue on Monday too while addressing election rallies in Bhopal and Neemuch.
