The controversy erupted on Friday evening after the ED claimed that a suspect’s email statement showed that promoters had bribed Baghel with ₹508 cr in bribes.
Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Monday took a dig at the BJP over the Mahata betting app controversy, saying Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel will get a clean chit if he joins the saffron party. Speaking at a book launch, Thackeray said that if Baghel joins the BJP the betting app will become ‘Har Har Mahadev’, which is a religious slogan.
Uddhav Thackeray said, “Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel will not join BJP but if he joins then this Mahadev betting app will become Har Har Mahadev App and all the legal cases against him will be resolved.”
Mahadev betting app is at the center of a major political storm after the Enforcement Directorate, quoting the statement of a suspect in a money laundering probe, alleged that Baghel has received ₹508 crore so far from app promoters. The ED, however, in a press statement also said that “these (claims) are a matter of investigation”.
IT Ministry blocks Mahadev betting app and 21 others amid ED probe in Chhattisgarh
Baghel has rejected these allegations as politically motivated and has alleged that BJP wants to contest Chhattisgarh elections with the help of agencies like ED, IT and CBI.
“The ED has taken extremely malicious steps to malign my image just before the elections… The malicious fact is that the ED has in essence said that the said statement is the subject of investigation. However, if there has been no investigation, what is the rush to issue a press release based on the statement of one person? This shows the wrong intentions of the ED and the central government,” Baghel said.
He said that he had spoken out against the political persecution of ED, and now Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah are trying to use him to get ahead in the upcoming election, but the people of Chhattisgarh won’t have it.
Voting will be held in Chhattisgarh in two phases – 7 and 17 November.