'Want electricity? Swear you voted for BJP,' MLA tells villager
What's the story
A video has gone viral in which an Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA is purportedly shown asking a villager to allegedly swear that the man had voted for the saffron party when the legislator was requested to install lights at his home. In the viral video, MLA Veer Vikram Singh (Prince), from Shahjahanpur's Katra Assembly constituency, was addressing a tree plantation program held recently.
Incident
Singh was listing development works at a program
Singh was listing the development works done by him in the program when a villager requested him to install lights at his home. To this, the legislator said, "You swear either pointing toward river Ganga or by your son and say that you have voted for us (BJP), and I will get the lights installed at your home."
Response
The BJP MLA made rude comments
As the villager said that he was just making a request, the BJP MLA replied, "Request that person, whom you had given something. Had you given (me your vote), you would have the right to stand on my chest." "Don't try to fool me. My father has been a four-time MLA. I am an MLA," he added.
Pressure
Singh later tried to defend his comments
"Do you think that I don't know how many votes I have got at each booth? You could have complained if you had voted for me, and I had not provided you lights," Singh said in the video. Later, Singh said, "The villager was exerting pressure on me to install lights at his home. The cost of such lights is Rs. 10 lakh."
Vote politics
Indulging in vote politics doesn't suit an MLA: SP MLA
"In this situation, the lights can be installed at public places under a government scheme," he said. Former SP MLA Rajesh Yadav said, "After winning the elections, an MLA is a representative for everybody. Who has voted for him, and who has not voted does not count. Indulging in vote politics, and asking people to swear by such things does not suit an MLA."