Deepak Goswami 
Gwalior: Facing heat over three viral videos allegedly involving alleged cash deals, Union minister for agriculture and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate from Dimni, Madhya Pradesh Narendra Singh Tomar has alleged a “well-planned conspiracy” by the opposition ahead of elections in the state.
In a statement on X (formerly Twitter) on November 14, Tomar said that the videos were fake and a part of “well-planned conspiracy” that is being carried out by the opposition at the time of elections with the “aim of misleading the public.”
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
Tomar’s statement came hours after a third video was circulated on Tuesday which showed a man identifying himself as Jagmandeep Singh, residing in Abbotsford, Canada, claiming to be the one speaking to Tomar’s son Devendra Pratap Singh Tomar in the two videos circulated earlier.
In the 6 minute 17 second long video, Singh claimed that he was a blueberry and marijuana farmer and said that he would give cash to BJP leader Majinder Singh Sirsa who would wire it to the minister’s son.
He claimed that the “matter is not of Rs 500 crore. It is of total Rs 10,000 cr”.
In his statement, Tomar said that his son had earlier requested for a police investigation into these “false videos” and demanded that the CFSL agencies conduct a probe into the videos so the truth can come out and “conspiracy can be exposed.”
At a press conference on Tuesday evening, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate questioned the silence of the ED and CBI in the case and demanded to know when Tomar would resign.
“What are we waiting for now after the revelations in the case of Devendra Singh Tomar? The person himself is saying that all the transactions were done in cash and this matter is not of Rs 100-200 crore but of Rs 10,000 crore,” she said.
On Monday, the second video involving Devendra, who is Tomar’s elder son had gone viral. In it, he is allegedly seen talking to a middleman. In the video, they appear to be discussing transactions worth hundreds of crores of rupees.
The first video was a 6-minute and 29-second clip created by combining two WhatsApp calls (a video call and an audio call), in which transactions worth crores of rupees and their transfer to multiple bank accounts were allegedly discussed.
This second video was a 1-minute and 35-second long clip in which Devendra is seen speaking on a WhatsApp video call to the same middleman with whom he was speaking in the earlier viral video.
The second video was released by the Congress in a press conference in Bhopal on November 13. Congress national spokesperson and Madhya Pradesh assembly election media in-charge Dr. Ragini Nayak said, “The videos of Narendra Singh Tomar’s son Devendra Tomar going viral are giving clear evidence that along with ‘50% commission’, black money has also become synonymous with BJP leaders.”
It is noteworthy that the Congress has been continuously accusing the BJP government of the state of charging a “50% commission” in public works – on the lines of Karnataka.
What’s in the video clip?
In the second video available with The Wire, Devendra and the alleged middleman are seen talking on a video call. Devendra Tomar can be seen on the screen of the middleman’s phone. The middleman is heard telling him, “Every month their CA will tell us whether it is Rs 50 crore, 100, 500, or how much it is… So, we have to take it every month.”
To this Devendra is heard replying, “Okay, no problem.”
Devendra: ‘How much will they give for the first one?’
Middleman: “I have quoted 250 for the first one. His CA will meet my bank manager today… because it will be converted from there and will be transferred to you and then you can send it to Munedo however you want.”
Devendra: “Get it transferred in your account, we will send them after that.”
Regarding Munedo (which appears to be a company of some sort), the middleman advises Devendra to keep at least 50% of his stake.
Devendra: “We will keep it, no problem…once the money becomes proper, we will do it.”
Middleman: “Let me tell them that we are ready.”
Silence in the BJP camp
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi had targeted the BJP over the video in a public meeting on Monday and asked, “Did Prime Minister Modi take action against Tomar ji’s son? Did he deploy the CBI, ED or the Income Tax department after him?
Accusing the BJP government of the state of taking 50% commission, Gandhi also listed the names of various scams that took place during its tenure.
The party’s national spokesperson Nayak also called it a transaction of ‘black money’ and took a dig at PM Modi’s slogan against corruption – ‘Na khaunga and na khane doonga‘ (which literally means ‘neither will I eat, nor let anyone else eat’, but figuratively refers to curbing corruption).
Nayak said, “All of them are flourishing under the patronage of Modi ji and when he said ‘na khaunga na khane doonga‘ he actually meant onions and tomatoes.”
She further asked, “Why would Modi ji be silent if that were not the case? Why has Shivraj Singh gone mum on this issue? Their silence indicates confession.”
Narendra Singh Tomar was the Union Minister of Steel and Mining between 2014 and 2019. It is claimed that this video is from that period.
The word mining was also mentioned in the first video where at one point the middleman said, “They asked me to send it (presumably money) where I had to, because I have not told (them) anyone’s name – where does the money go… He has a trading firm and mining (company) in Rajasthan… and the Mohali guy is a land dealer, he deals with politicians and officials for land… all this liquid (money) comes from there.”
Regarding the first viral video, some had claimed that the said video could be about five to seven years old, perhaps from the time when Tomar was the Union minister. They cited Devendra’s thick hair as proof and claimed the footage had been preserved, so that it could be used at the right time.
After the first video surfaced, Devendra called it fake and fabricated and said that he would file a complaint against it to the Morena Superintendent of Police. On the complaint of Devendra, a case in this regard was also registered at the Civil Lines police station of Morena. The Wire tried to contact Civil Lines police station in-charge Veeresh Kushwaha regarding the progress in the investigation of the case, but could not reach him.
Meanwhile, other than Tomar, the BJP’s central leadership as well as state level leaders have not given any specific reaction to the entire episode of the viral video that has been circulating for more than a week.
There is now a possibility that these videos may create significant roadblocks on Tomar’s possible chief ministerial ambitions .
Tomar has two sons – the elder son is Devendra while Prabal Pratap Singh Tomar is the younger son. In the Gwalior-Morena region, which has been his constituency and bastion, the two brothers are popularly known as Ramu Bhaiya and Raghu Bhaiya respectively.
Young BJP workers in Gwalior flock around Tomar’s sons and are known to raise slogans of “long live Ramu Bhaiya and Raghu Bhaiya.” Devendra or Ramu Bhaiya is also the vice-president of Hockey India. In any public event, the two brothers are honoured the way an MP, MLA or minister would be. It is said that Tomar’s ground work in his constituency is managed by his sons.
Devendra’s name had also come up as a ticket contender in this assembly election and there was speculation about him being selected as BJP candidate from Dimani or Gwalior East. However, the party fielded his father, the elder Tomar, from Dimani. Due to the party’s policy of ‘one family, one ticket’, Devendra’s chances of entering the fray were thus spoilt. There had been similar speculation on Devendra contesting the elections in 2018 as well.
Translated from the Hindi original by Naushin Rehman.
With inputs from Sravasti Dasgupta.