“Satta Main Reh Ke Satte Ka Khel”: Allegations of Kickbacks Aimed at Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Baghel by the BJP

In the midst of accusations that Mahadev app developers paid Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel over Rs 500 crore in kickbacks, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said on Saturday that the Congress was using hawala money to finance its campaign in the state that is set to hold elections.

During a news conference, Union Minister Smriti Irani attacked Baghel, saying that the chief minister of Chhattisgarh “played the game of betting while his government was in power.”

“People had never seen such evidence in our electoral history,” she claimed, accusing Baghel of battling the polls with the help of hawala and bookmakers rather than the general public.

“Satta (power) me rah kar satta (betting) ka khel khela hai (he has wagered while in a position of power),” the woman said.

In response, the chief minister said that the BJP was using federal investigative agencies to attack him in advance of the state’s assembly elections, which are scheduled for November 7 and 17.

Retaliating, Irani claimed that the data of police investigations in Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh form the basis of the Enforcement Directorate’s inquiry and questioned if Baghel was implicating his own administration.

She cited the investigation when she revealed that illicit betting businesses had also provided the authorities more than Rs 64 crore in protection money.

She stated there were voicemails and comments from the defendants connecting the use of wagering funds to support the state campaign of Congress with bribes paid to Baghel.

According to the ED, “these are subject matter of investigation” about “startling allegations” that proprietors of the Mahadev betting app had paid the chief minister of Chhattisgarh around Rs 508 crore so far. These claims were made on Friday based on forensic analysis and a statement provided by a “cash courier.”