mumbai

Updated: Sep 08, 2017 11:14 IST

A government civil contractor approached the police on Thursday accusing BJP MLA from Yavatmal, Raju Todsam, of harassing him for a bribe. The MLA has refuted the claims.

An audio clip of the alleged conversation between the contractor and the BJP MLA has also gone viral.

In the audio clip, a man, which the complainant claimed is the MLA, is heard asking the contractor to pay Rs20 lakh to get the bills cleared.

HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the clip.

The man also claims he will complain to the chief minister if the money is not paid.

Todsam defeated a senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra minister Shivajirao Moghe in the 2014 state elections.

According to reports, the Yavatmal police have not lodged an FIR against the MLA so far. “We are verifying it and if necessary such a step would be initiated,” said M Rajkumar, district superintendent of police.

Meanwhile, the MLA claimed he never demanded money from the contractor. “I have only raised the issue of poor quality of work,” he said.

The audio clip has caused embarrassment to the Devendra Fadnavis-led government that has been facing allegations of corruption against its senior ministers and bureaucrats.

Senior ministers in the Fadnavis cabinet, including housing minister Prakash Mehta and Sena’s industries minister, are facing probes following allegations of graft and irregularities in their departments.

This week, the social justice department minister Raj Kumar Badole, came under scanner after it was revealed that his daughter was one of the beneficiaries of his department’s scholarship to study abroad.

While Badole’s daughter decided to give up the scholarship, the controversy once again highlighted issues of conflict of interest and impropriety that Fadnavis’ ministers have been charged with.