The conviction of Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti by Delhi’s Special MP/MLA court in a cheating case, swiftly followed by his disqualification from the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly, has stirred a political dispute in the state. Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari, in a press conference, questioned the rapid disqualification of Datia’s Congress MLA Rajendra Bharti from the State legislative assembly. He highlighted that while Bharti was convicted, he was granted a 60-day window to appeal the court’s decision.
Patwari criticized the BJP for pressuring officials in the State Assembly Secretariat to disqualify Bharti late at night, alleging partiality on the part of senior BJP leader and Speaker Narendra Singh Tomar in decision-making. In response, the ruling BJP supported Bharti’s disqualification, emphasizing that it was a consequence of his conviction. Madhya Pradesh BJP president Hemant Khandelwal emphasized the need to respect the court’s decision and stated that the BJP stands by the court’s ruling.
Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court sentenced Bharti and a former bank employee to three years in prison for a cheating case involving the falsification of bank records to secure illicit interest payments spanning from 1998 to 2011. The duo was found guilty of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forging a valuable security, forgery for cheating, and using a forged document as genuine.
