The BJP in Madhya Pradesh's Satna district has filed a police complaint against the Congress for allegedly spreading false information about the caste of a woman sarpanch.
The woman, Shraddha Singh, had previously claimed that she was denied the opportunity to hoist the national flag and was not provided a chair during a village meeting.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) asserts that Singh, who is the sarpanch of Akouna village panchayat, belongs to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, not the Dalit community as the Congress had suggested.
The Congress had posted on social media that Singh, described as a Dalit leader, was not allowed to hoist the national flag on Independence Day, nor was she given a chair during a gram sabha. The Congress further alleged that she was asked to bring her own chair or sit on the floor.
In response, BJP’s Satna mandal general secretary, Keshav Kori, lodged a complaint with the City Kotwali police station, accusing the Congress of misleading the public by misrepresenting Singh’s caste.
Hitanand Sharma, the BJP’s organisation general secretary in Madhya Pradesh, stated on social media that both Singh and the village secretary are from the Kurmi caste and suggested that internal differences, rather than caste issues, might have influenced the situation.
Following media reports and Singh’s allegations in a video message, Sanjana Jain, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Satna District Panchayat, issued a show-cause notice to the Akouna village panchayat secretary.
Jain’s investigation found that Singh arrived at the flag-hoisting event at 9 am, an hour after the scheduled time. Despite attempts to contact her, the deputy sarpanch ended up hoisting the flag. The investigation also confirmed that Singh was offered a chair at the event.
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