BHOPAL: Former minister and BJP leader Sanjay Pathak has alleged political vendetta by the Kamal Nath-led Congress government involving him in the high profile poaching row. The MP government had on Wednesday ordered closure of four iron ore mines owned by Pathak citing Supreme Court orders which Pathak termed as unfair and unjustified.

"The action by the government to close my mines is purely inspired by political vendetta. I had been pressured by the Congress to quit BJP and join the old party which I had refused. To avenge this, they named me in the poaching row. The same day, the government ordered closure of my mines which is totally illegal and unjustified," Pathak told TOI.

Pathak’s name cropped up on Wednesday when Congress leader Digvijay Singh claimed that the BJP leaders were the key figure in the alleged poaching of ten MLAs involving five BJP leaders, to topple the Congress ruled government. The Congress also alleged that he along with some businessmen close to BJP were providing financial support to lure the MLAs.

Immediately after, the government tightened noose on Pathak and other BJP leaders including Narottam Mishra and Bhupendra Singh by approving legal action against them in various cases. As per official reports, the Jabalpur district administration ordered closure of the mines for allegedly violating a Supreme Court ruling. The mines belong to M/s Nirmala Minerals , a company owned by Sanjay Pathak since late 1950s.

"The mine is spread over Agariya and Dubiyara villages in Sihora tehsil. The lease holderof khasra (survey) No 1093 and khasra No 628/1 has failed to prove in last six months that an order passed by the Supreme Court on March 3, 2019, banning mining on (forest) land, does not apply to his operational area,” said an official.

The district administration thus, banned Nirmala Minerals from carrying out mining operations. Following the SC order, the divisional forest officer (DFO), on whose jurisdiction the mining area falls, on June 7, 2019, approached the Jabalpur district collector for its implementation. Three days later, the district collector banned mining operations of Nirmala Minerals in Sihora, the officer said. But on August 13, 2019, the collector stayed his own order on advice of the state advocate general following a review application received in the matter, he said.

Rejecting charges of violation, Pathak said, "The mines in question were granted in 1954 and mining operations began in 1952. There were SC directives (dated May 3, 2019) over a dispute for marble mine in Nivas town of Katni district (khasra number 220) between Annu Bansal, Rajkumar Dubey and a firm of Rajasthan and stay was granted on the mining in the case. Citing the matter, the district administration also ordered closure of my mine alleging dispute, which does not exist," said Pathak.

The BJP leader further alleged, "After coming to power, the Congress leaders asked him to quit BJP and join the party to avoid dire consequences. They continued to put undue pressure on me and finally avenged by closing the mines. They also want me to embroil in the alleged poaching row, which did not occur. I have not spoken to any Congress MLA since the last one and a half year. Still they want to put me in trouble," said Pathak.

The BJP leader said that he would not be cowed into submission by any threat or action. "This is purely political revenge. I will not succumb to such action and we will seek legal way out to this problem. But, where the Congress is taking politics is to be noticed. Ironically, the administrative officials have also become part of the political smear campaign, which is sad," said Pathak.

A former Congressman, Pathak joined BJP in 2014 and served as a minister in the erstwhile Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. In 2018, he won from Vijayraghogarh assembly seat in Katni district and declared assets worth over Rs 226 crore. His father, Satyendra Pathak was also a minister in erstwhile Congress government.

The Congress however, ruled out any political revenge. “Action against Pathak’s mines was taken as per the SC directives. This could be coincidence that at this time his name appeared among BJP leaders involved in poaching of MLAs. But, there is no political revenge involved,” said Congress state legal in-charge, JP Dhanopia.

