Srinagar: After a group of journalists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Leh accused the BJP of “trying to bribe reporters for favourable coverage” to influence the national election, a video has emerged of envelopes being handed out to the media at a press conference held in the mountainous town last week.
In the CCTV clip, BJP legislator Vikram Randhawa is seen handing out envelopes to journalists in the presence of the party’s state unit chief Ravinder Raina. The authenticity of the video, however, cannot be verified.
On Friday, members of the Press Club in Leh had written to the local election officer, accusing Raina of trying to bribe journalists at Hotel Singge Palace where he addressed a press conference the day before.
The BJP has denied the allegations. The party said the lawmaker was handing out invites to the journalists for Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s rally in the region. It said it will sue the journalists for defamation.
Rinchen Angmo, one of the journalists, had claimed that a senior BJP leader handed over envelopes to four journalists, including her, in front of the state BJP chief. The leader urged them not to open the envelopes in the hall, Angmo said.
“I got suspicious and opened it. I found some 500 rupee notes inside the envelope. I returned it to him but he refused to take it; I kept it (envelope) on a table,” she said. The CCTV video shows a woman leaving an envelope on the table.
“We don’t believe in bribing anybody. We hold journalists in high esteem. BJP has never done such a thing and we will never do it,” a BJP leader said.
The state election body has initiated steps to file a First Information Report or FIR following the journalists’ complaint. Officials said the complaint has been sent to the local court and that they are waiting for court directions to file an FIR.
The Ladakh region, that voted on Monday in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha election, witnessed a four-cornered contest between BJP’s Tsering, Rigzin Saplbar of Congress, Sajjad Hussain backed by the National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party, and independent candidate Asgar Ali Karbalai.
The Muslim community enjoys a slender majority in Ladakh but both Congress and BJP fielded Buddhist candidates.
The BJP had won Ladakh in the 2014 election by defeating the Congress candidate by just 36 votes. The party, however, suffered a setback after lawmaker Thupstan Chhewang resigned from the BJP in November. Several other leaders from Ladakh also left the party.
