Bhopal: BJP MLA Narayan Tripathi, who had accused his own party of using government machinery for its own benefit during the recent panchayat and urban body elections, was reportedly summoned to Bhopal on Friday.
Accordingly, Tripathi met Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Home Minister Narottam Mishra in the state capital. Sources in the BJP said that Tripathi’s statement has upset the senior BJP leaders upset and therefore he was summoned to Bhopal.
However, talking to IANS, Tripathi denied that he was summoned by the top party leadership, adding that his meeting with Chouhan and Mishra on Friday was a routine meeting since he was in Bhopal.
“Let me be clear… I had questioned the government employees and not the BJP. Today I was in Bhopal and being a party MLA, I met the Chief Minister and the Home Minister and there should be no speculation that I was summoned to be here.”
Tripathi, a four-time MLA from Maihar in Satna district, had said on Thursday that the government employees, right from the patwari to the topmost level, were seen campaigning for the party during the recent local body elections.
“I am not against the BJP, but what is happening actually pains me,” Tripathi had said.
Tripathi’s remarks also triggered speculation that he might cross-vote for opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha in the July 18 Presidential election.
However, Tripathi made it clear that he will vote for NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu on Monday.
“It is for the first time that a tribal leader is going to become the President of the country. Let me make it clear, I will vote for the party candidate only,” Tripathi tweeted along with a picture of him meeting Chouhan and Mishra in Bhopal on Friday.
–IANS