The Crossbill News Desk
In a first for Rajasthan, the state’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Sunday arrested Jaikrishn Patel, a first-time MLA from the Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP), for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 20 lakh to withdraw questions related to mining from the Assembly.
The ACB identified Patel, 37, as the MLA from Bagidora constituency in Banswara district and said he was caught red-handed along with alleged middleman Vijay Kumar Patel at the MLA quarters in Jaipur, The Indian Express reported.
According to ACB Director General Ravi Prakash Meharda, the legislator attempted to pass the cash to an aide moments before being apprehended. The aide managed to flee the scene.
“The complainant has mines and the three questions put up by the MLA are also related to mines, even though the complainant’s mines are hundreds of kilometres away from the MLA’s constituency,” the DG told the newspaper.
The complaint was filed by Ravindra Kumar, whose family owns mining operations in Todabhim, around 600 kilometres from Patel’s constituency. Kumar alleged that Patel had been harassing him by raising mining-related questions in the Assembly and demanding money to withdraw them. Kumar's father, BJP leader Ramniwas Meena, had contested and lost the Todabhim seat in the 2023 Assembly elections.
The ACB said initial negotiations began at a demand of Rs 10 crore but were later settled at Rs 2.5 crore.
A month-long operation was set in motion, with the first instalment of Rs 1 lakh delivered in Banswara—an incident recorded by the agency. The second instalment of Rs 20 lakh was being handed over when the arrest was made.
The matter was brought to the notice of Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani and Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma prior to the arrest, the ACB confirmed.
Patel, who won the Bagidora seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes in a 2023 bypoll by defeating the BJP candidate with a margin of over 51,000 votes, is the first MLA in Rajasthan to be arrested by the ACB. His party, the BAP, has rapidly gained influence in the tribal belt of southern Rajasthan.
Reacting to the arrest, BAP MP Rajkumar Roat alleged a political conspiracy, pointing to the party's rising clout.
“You can see for yourself the manner in which the BAP has quickly grown in the region and made tall leaders sit at home. So, it is natural that they will conspire. Why did that person agree to give away Rs 2.5 crore? He’s also a part of the conspiracy,” he said, while stopping short of fully defending Patel.
Roat said the BAP’s core committee would meet to decide the next course of action after hearing Patel’s version.
The ACB identified Patel, 37, as the MLA from Bagidora constituency in Banswara district and said he was caught red-handed along with alleged middleman Vijay Kumar Patel at the MLA quarters in Jaipur, The Indian Express reported.
According to ACB Director General Ravi Prakash Meharda, the legislator attempted to pass the cash to an aide moments before being apprehended. The aide managed to flee the scene.
“The complainant has mines and the three questions put up by the MLA are also related to mines, even though the complainant’s mines are hundreds of kilometres away from the MLA’s constituency,” the DG told the newspaper.
The complaint was filed by Ravindra Kumar, whose family owns mining operations in Todabhim, around 600 kilometres from Patel’s constituency. Kumar alleged that Patel had been harassing him by raising mining-related questions in the Assembly and demanding money to withdraw them. Kumar's father, BJP leader Ramniwas Meena, had contested and lost the Todabhim seat in the 2023 Assembly elections.
The ACB said initial negotiations began at a demand of Rs 10 crore but were later settled at Rs 2.5 crore.
A month-long operation was set in motion, with the first instalment of Rs 1 lakh delivered in Banswara—an incident recorded by the agency. The second instalment of Rs 20 lakh was being handed over when the arrest was made.
The matter was brought to the notice of Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani and Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma prior to the arrest, the ACB confirmed.
Patel, who won the Bagidora seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes in a 2023 bypoll by defeating the BJP candidate with a margin of over 51,000 votes, is the first MLA in Rajasthan to be arrested by the ACB. His party, the BAP, has rapidly gained influence in the tribal belt of southern Rajasthan.
Reacting to the arrest, BAP MP Rajkumar Roat alleged a political conspiracy, pointing to the party's rising clout.
“You can see for yourself the manner in which the BAP has quickly grown in the region and made tall leaders sit at home. So, it is natural that they will conspire. Why did that person agree to give away Rs 2.5 crore? He’s also a part of the conspiracy,” he said, while stopping short of fully defending Patel.
Roat said the BAP’s core committee would meet to decide the next course of action after hearing Patel’s version.
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