Madhya Pradesh Congress President Jitendra Patwari has landed in trouble over allegedly bribing a villager to claim he was being fed human excreta.
The state police have filed a case against the Congress leader, reacting to which Patwari said he “welcomed” the move.
According to police, the villager alleged in an affidavit that some Congress leaders took him to meet Jitendra Patwari, who then insisted the villager make allegations of being fed human excreta by the Mungaoli village sarpanch, and bribed him to do so.
On June 25, Jitendra Patwari posted a video of himself sitting with two men, who were alleging that they were fed human excreta. Targeting the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government, Patwari tweeted the over 8-minute clip with the caption, “Prime Minister Ji, @BJP4MP The jungle rule of power is crossing the limits of anarchy! A youth from the Lodhi community had “human excreta” stuffed in his mouth just because he asked for a “ration slip”!”
Patwari further named BJP MLA Brijendra Yadav and said his supporters were behind the alleged incident. In the clip Patwari shared, the two men were seen crying, alleging they tried to file an FIR but the cops refused.
“Why does #BJP consider Dalits, backward classes, and tribals as its enemies in Madhya Pradesh?” Patwari wrote, referencing an old incident from 2023 in which a tribal labourer who was urinated upon by another man.
Patwari slammed chief minister Mohan Yadav, criticising the law and order in the state.
However, according to Madhya Pradesh Police, the allegations of being fed human excreta turned out to be false as they were made on Jitu Patwari’s demand.
“Later, he (the villager) said that the allegations about this were false, and he made this allegation on Jitu Patwari’s demand… Based on this, a case has been filed against Jitu Patwari and his aides under various sections of BNS,” news agency ANI quoted SP Vineet Kumar Jain as saying.
Reacting to the case filed against him, Jitendra Patwari said he would continue to raise his voice for the oppressed. “The opposition should fulfil its responsibility when there are atrocities on the farmers, Dalits and the government should take it positively and take action. The government, on the contrary, commits a sin which is not its duty,” he told news agency ANI.