Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly Rameshwar Lal Dudi (rajassembly.nic.in)
The ruling BJP on Friday cornered Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly and senior Congress MLA, Rameshwar Lal Dudi, over a video which has gone viral and in which he is allegedly heard saying that he had bet Rs 3 crore in the recently concluded bypolls. This led to an uproar in the Assembly and which led it to be adjourned till Monday.
In the video recorded in a room apparently before the bypolls, Dudi is allegedly seen discussing political betting and what the markets say about Congress’ chances about “three seats.” When asked by a person – not on camera – whether he believes in betting market, Dudi responds by saying “mhara toh teen crore rupya lagyora hai (I have bet Rs 3 crore).” He is then told that it is all being recorded and the video ends. Congress had won decisively in the recently held bypolls to Ajmer and Lok Sabha seats and Mandalgarh Vidhan Sabha seat.
Later, talking to journalists outside the Assembly, Dudi claimed that the video is fake and termed it a “conspiracy” by the BJP. He said that he hails from a village and has nothing to do with betting.
“I am not familiar with betting and how it is done. The manner in which they targeted me inside the Assembly, it seems they are complicit,” he said, “condemning strongly” the BJP’s attempts to malign him.
“BJP is frustrated as we had won in all 17 Vidhan Sabha seats too,” he said, claiming that he had not seen the video. Asked whether he will get the video investigated, he said that he will look at the video first.
Inside the Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Rathore raised the issue as soon as the question hour ended. The ruling party said it wanted to table the bill on record which led Dudi to protest against a “personal attack.” As the uproar continued, Dudi said that he was not being allowed to speak on the issue and requested Speaker Kailash Meghwal to bring the House in order.
The House had to be adjourned twice, and subsequently for the day, over the issue. Congress state president Sachin Pilot said that BJP wants to mislead the public from core issues and hence resorting to “dirty tricks.” He said that the Opposition wanted to hold the government accountable for illegal mining, corruption, rising crimes and crimes against women, but that the government wants to run away from responsibility.
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