The Congress on Saturday said the BJP had tried to defame the Bhupesh Baghel government and disturb the level playing field in the Chhattisgarh election by unleashing the Enforcement Directorate to “enforce lies” about money laundering without any basis.

As the BJP launched massive propaganda over the ED claim that a forensic analysis and a statement made by a "cash courier" had led to “startling allegations” that the promoters of the Mahadev betting app had paid about Rs 508 crore to Baghel, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself holding it up as proof of corruption in the Congress, the chief minister dismissed the charge as concocted. Baghel said the BJP was not capable of fighting him and hence the central agencies had launched a war against him.

Though Baghel is widely expected to sail through on the strength of his robust social security agenda, the new allegations have dramatically changed the narrative, giving the BJP an opening to malign the Congress in Chhattisgarh as well as Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, where too elections are due. Union minister Smriti Irani held a media conference to accuse the Congress of contesting elections with hawala money.

The Congress held its nerve, asserting that the people would see through the BJP’s conspiracy of using an investigation going on for months to disrupt the electoral discourse. Senior leaders K.C. Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh and Abhishek Singhvi held a media conference in Delhi to counter the BJP propaganda while Baghel alleged that the Modi government had struck a deal with the operators of the Mahadev App to entrap him.

Referring to the seizure of Rs 5 crore in Raipur, Baghel said: “Where from such huge amounts came when every vehicle is being checked? What was the Election Commission doing? Huge boxes are coming in special flights for the CRPF. Why have those boxes not been checked? If anybody takes my name, I shall be presumed guilty? What if somebody takes the Prime Minister’s name? Why was the Mahadev App not banned? Why were its operators Sunil Uppal and Sourabh Chandrakar not arrested?”

Giving details of the case, Singhvi said: “Although the Mahadev App is universal and being run throughout the country, Chhattisgarh is the first state which has conducted an investigation and registered more than 70 cases against them. The Chhattisgarh police have arrested more than 450 persons of interest and seized 191 laptops, 865 mobile devices, more than Rs 1.5 crore worth of assets, more than Rs 41 lakh in cash, and frozen bank accounts with an estimated value of Rs 16 crore.”

The first case was registered on March 30, 2022. The Chhattisgarh police conducted raids in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Delhi and other states and subsequently arrested several persons. Although it is alleged that the Mahadev App was founded in Chhattisgarh, the investigation concluded that there is no branch or any operation base in the state. The police have learnt that the App’s masterminds and kingpins, Uppal and Chandrakar, are from Chhattisgarh. During the course of the investigation, it was found that the main accused were operating the App from Dubai.

Singhvi said: “The Chhattisgarh police issued a lookout notice in July 2023. Due to jurisdictional limitations of the police, the state government had approached the central government and its agencies to arrest the absconding accused Ravi Uppal and Saurabh Chandrakar from Dubai. Additionally, the state government has requested the relevant authorities in the central government to ban the Mahadev App completely and put a stop to all its operations in the country. Despite these reminders and all these investigations, the App is still operational.”

Ramesh said the "Modi-Shah-Sitaraman financial masterclass" had decided to legalise all online betting in India and levied 28 per cent GST on these unscrupulous activities.

“Looking at the operational status of the alleged criminal Mahadev App, it is our belief that the BJP has been funded by the Mahadev App and to continue operating freely. This also provides a platform for the BJP to push their political propaganda through investigating agencies. They are reluctant to arrest the kingpins fearing the funding will stop," he said.

The FIR registered by the Chhattisgarh police was the basis for the start of the ED investigation into the Mahadev App. “The ED conveniently converted the probe from a criminal investigation into a politically motivated one. And since then, they have been circling around bureaucrats, politicians and politically affiliated persons. They have now reached the stage that they aimed for — to defame the Congress government and target the chief minister,” Singhvi said.

He added: “It is important to understand the modus operandi of the ED and its overlords. To reach Baghel by hook or by crook, they circled anyone close to him like rabid dogs. They raided the homes of the chief minister’s political adviser, Vinod Verma, two OSDs — Manish Banchor and Ashish Verma — and close friend Vijay Bhatia. During the raid at Vinod Verma’s home, they seized jewellery despite the production of legitimate invoices with records of payments dating back over 16 years. They emptied out wallets, bags, purses, shagun ke lifafe and seized petty cash despite being provided justification.”