Bhopal, March 18: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday wrote a letter to Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sunil Arora alleging that senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh was pressurising 16 MLAs of Madhya Pradesh to vote in his favour during Rajya Sabha polls. The BJP also asked the CEC to take action against Singh for violating Model Code of Conduct. The 16 MLAs are currently lodged at Bengaluru’s Ramada hotel. Notably, Digvijaya Singh is Congress candidate for upcoming Rajya Sabha polls. Madhya Pradesh Crisis: 22 Rebel Congress Leaders Refuse to Meet Digvijay Singh, Say 'We Don't Want to Talk to Anybody'.

The letter reads, “Digvijaya Singh, who is a candidate for Rajya Sabha election has gone to Bengaluru along with others, to pressurise 16 MLAs (lodged at Ramada hotel) to vote in his favour, violating Model Code of Conduct.” The letter further states, “It is, therefore, requested to take appropriate action against Digvijaya Singh (Congress leader) and others so that Rajya Sabha elections are conducted peacefully and in a democratic manner.”

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Meanwhile, the senior Congress filed have also filed a plea in the Karnataka High Court, seeking permission to meet the 16 Madhya Pradesh Congress MLAs. He said, “I have decided to be on fast and shall take a call on that after the decision of Supreme Court& the High Court.” Singh also alleged that the BJP was busy in toppling the Congress government in the state. Madhya Pradesh Government Crisis: Jyotiraditya Scindia Meets PM Narendra Modi, Congress Gets Into Huddle.

While addressing the media, Singh said, “BJP is busy in toppling duly-elected governments. We had successfully thwarted plans to destabilise MP government, but we were let down by Jyotiraditya Scindia who had a very successful career in Congress.” He also lashed out at Jyotiraditya Scindia for joining the BJP.

Earlier in the day, reports surfaced that the rebel Congress MLA staying at a resort in Bengaluru refused to meet Singh. The MLAs said that they had come to the city voluntarily and did not want to meet anybody, even as senior party leader Singh was making efforts to reach out to them. High drama unfolded this morning near the resort, as Singh, a two-time Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, staged a protest accusing the police of not allowing him to meet the legislators, following which he was detained briefly and released later.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 18, 2020 04:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).