BJP Says Will Not Give Ticket to MLA Whose Audio Clip Went Viral

MLA Raju Todsam can be heard asking for money from the contractor if he wants to continue working in his area.

BJP MLA Raju Todsam has been accused by a government civil contractor of ‘harassing him for money’.

(Photo: The Quint)

Soon after the audio clip of BJP MLA Raju Todsam in Maharashtra went viral, party sources said that he will not be given the ticket next time. Todsam was accused by a government civil contractor of ‘harassing him for money’. The contractor from Yavatmal, Maharashtra, filed a written complaint to the police, reported The Indian Express.

The conversation between the contractor, Shivdatta Sharma, and Todsam went viral. In the complaint to the Wadgaon police station in Yavatmal, Sharma wrote:

MLA Raju Todsam has been harassing me about financial transactions. I have made an audiotape of the conversation, where he is threatening me, viral on Thursday. The MLA threatened me saying he would see ‘how I (Sharma) carry out any work in his (Todsam’s) area unless the transactions are made’. I am submitting this complaint because I think there’s a danger to my life.

In the audio, the MLA can be heard asking for money if Sharma wants to continue working in his area. Sharma tells him not to ask for money as his son is in coma. However, when the demand for money remains emphatic, the pleading tone soon changes to an angry one.

The police have not filed an FIR in the case yet.

He (Sharma) has just given us a complaint on paper. I have told him to file a regular FIR with his signature. He hasn’t done that. I have also heard the audiotape that has gone viral, but, to check the veracity of the tape, we must have a regular FIR.

M Rajkumar, Superintendent of Police

(With inputs from The Indian Express.)

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