Rajasthan MLA arrested for allegedly accepting bribe to drop Assembly questions

The Rajasthan Police on Sunday arrested Bharat Adivasi Party MLA Jaikrishn Patel for allegedly accepting Rs 20 lakh as bribe from a mine owner to withdraw questions in the Legislative Assembly about mining leases in Karauli district, The Hindu reported.

Jaikrishn Patel, who represents Banswara district’s Bagidora, and an alleged middleman named Vijay Kumar Patel were caught “red-handed” at the MLA quarters in Jaipur, The Indian Express quoted Anti-Corruption Bureau Director General Ravi Prakash Meharda as saying.

The mine owner, Ravindra Kumar, had filed a complaint against Jaikrishn Patel on April 4. Kumar alleged that the legislator accused him of illegal mining and pressured him by listing three questions related to mining leases in Karauli district’s Todabhim block in the previous session of the Assembly.

“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 Indian Express quoted Meharda as saying.

Jaikrishn Patel allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 10 crore from Kumar to drop the questions, The Hindu reported. Two of the questions in the Assembly were starred, which requires an oral answer from a minister during the Question Hour in the Assembly. The third one was unstarred.

“Following the negotiations, the bribe deal was struck at Rs 2...

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