Ranchi: The BJP has asked Babulal Marandi to prove his allegations that bribes amou-nting to Rs 11 crore had been paid to six JVM MLAs to switch over to the BJP after the 2014 Assembly elections within a week or tender a public apology, failing which it would sue the JVM party president.

Commenting on the purported letter he is supposed to have written, and which Marandi placed before the Governor on Friday, former state BJP chief Ravindra Rai said it was forged and demanded an inquiry by a competent agency to verify its authenticity.

"The controversial letter is written on Kisan Morcha's letterhead. I challenge the letter head. The letter is a forged one. This letter has been circulating in the social media since long. But no one took it seriously. Babulal Marandi is now publicising it for cheap popularity," Rai, now Koderma MP, told the media on Saturday flanked by, among others, the six MLAs, namely, Naveen Jaiswal (Hatia), Amar Kumar Bauri (Chandankiyari), Ganesh Ganju (Simeria), Alok Kumar Chourasia (Daltonganj), Randhir Kumar Singh (Sarath) and Janki Prasad Yadav (Barkatha).

Rai claimed he never wrote a letter to his party president elaborating that Rs 11 lakh was spent to bring the MLAs to the BJP fold and that the chief minister (Raghubar Das) had promised to take care of the remaining expenses. But he said that he was the state BJP president from March 10, 2013 to May 16, 2016 before which he was vice-president of the BJP Kisan Morcha.

Rai wondered how a politician could write such a letter to his boss, even if he or she had to grease palms for certain gains. "I strongly believe this letter has been written by Babulal Marandi himself. After having lost public support, he is now indulging in character assassination. This cannot be allowed," he said.

The BJP MP said he was ready to face an inquiry by any competent agency. "I will not be naming any agency since the BJP is in power at both the Centre and state. Babulal ji has demanded a CBI probe. I endorse the inquiries. Babulalji and I will be deciding our future of course of action on the basis of the inquiry report," he said.

A JVM delegation led by Marandi called on governor Droupadi Murmu on Friday and sought the disqualification of the six MLAs who joined the BJP within a month of their winning the 2014 Assembly elections on JVM tickets.

In a memorandum, Marandi suggested that each of the six MLAs were paid Rs 2 crore to switch over to the BJP, basing his allegation on the letter purportedly written by Rai to former party president Rajnath Singh.

In the letter which Marandi furnished, Rai is understood to have stated that on the instructions of BJP's Jharkhand minder Trivendra Singh Rawat (now Uttarakhand CM) Rs 11 crore had been spent on bringing the six MLAs to the BJP fold.

Marandi demanded that apart from Rai, Rawat and chief minister Das, FIRs also be lodged against Sunil Singh (Chatra MP), Mahesh Poddar (Rajya Sabha member), C.P. Singh (minister), Biranchi Narayan and Anant Ojha (MLAs), Rakesh Prasad (20 point programme implementation committee deputy chairman), Sanjay Seth (Khadi Board chairman), Deepak Prakash (state BJP general secretary), Rajendra Singh (then state BJP organisation incharge) and senior leader Usha Pandey.

He also demanded a CBI probe into the affair, the dismissal of the Das government, and the termination of Assembly membership of the six former JVM MLAs.

At Saturday's media conference, Prakash and all the six MLAs in question vowed to quit politics if it was proven that the controversial letter was true.

Bauri, who is tourism minister, said that after the results of Assembly elections were announced on December 23, 2014, Marandi had called on BJP president Amit Shah in Delhi. JVM's merger with the BJP was the only topic of discussion at the meeting.

Thereafter, the newly-elected JVM members held a meeting at a Delhi restaurant where the merger plan was approved unanimously. But, later Marandi backed out.

Marandi, on the other hand, told the media in Khunti on Saturday that he stood by what he said on Friday and demanded a CBI probe. "I will be approaching the President on this issue soon if Raj Bhavan does not take action. My fight will continue," he added.

On Saturday evening, JVM workers supported by CPI party men burnt effigies of chief minister Raghubar Das and BJP leaders for their " misuse of power".