Even Mahadev has decided to dislodge corrupt Cong govt: Rajnath

SURGUJA (Chhattisgarh): Coming down heavily on the Congress over the ED's claims in connection with the alleged Mahadev betting app scam in Chhattisgarh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said it seems even 'Mahadev', another name for Lord Shiva, has decided that the 'corrupt' Congress government should be dislodged from power and the BJP should return to the hustings.

Addressing a public meeting at Chhattisgarh's Surguja on Saturday, ahead of the second phase of elections in the state on November 17, the Raksha Mantri said, "For five years, they (Congress) made a killing out of a betting app. Now, the fury of Mahadev is about to befall them. The judgment day is near and it appears that even Mahadev has resolved to dislodge the Congress from power in Chhattisgarh and bring back the BJP."

He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, much like his predecessors Jawaharlal Nehru and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has a dream to build a prosperous and progressive Chhattisgarh. "Jawaharlal Nehru, our first PM, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee had a dream of making a new Chhattisgarh. But two years after Modi-ji came to power (in 2014), the BJP government under Raman Singh was defeated by the Congress. Since then, Modi-ji's plan for remaking Chhattisgarh as a model state could not be fulfilled," Singh said.

The Defence Minister alleged that after the Congress came to power in the state, corruption grew by leaps and bounds, to the extent that 30 per cent of the proceeds raised through scams went to the party headquarters in Delhi. "You all know what happened after Congress formed the government here and Bhupesh Baghel took oath as CM. Corruption grew to such an extent that 30 per cent of the money raised through scams filled the Congress coffers and was sent to the party's headquarters in Delhi. They eat up everything that they lay their hands on. You wouldn't ever see a more power-hungry and corrupt government than the one over here of the Congress," he added.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), which is investigating the Mahadev Book Online Betting APP syndicate, claimed earlier that by questioning Asim Das, an arrested cash courier from the UAE, and the forensic examination of the phone recovered from him, and examination of an email sent by one of the high-ranking accused of Mahadev network, many startling facts came to light.

The agency claimed that regular payments were made in the past and, so far, about Rs 508 crore has been paid by the promoters of the Mahadev betting app to CM Bhupesh Baghel.

The source of these alleged payments is under investigation, they added. The first phase of polling for the Chhattisgarh Assembly concluded on Tuesday. The counting of votes will take place on December 3.