A day after All India Congress committee general secretary Digvijaya Singh stoked fresh controversy on the eve of the BJP’s rally to be addressed by Narendra Modi by announcing the saffron party had purchased 10,000 burqas and thousands of skull caps to show it has support of Muslims, the said tailor denied receiving any such order.
Singh had said the burqas were supplied by a small tailoring shop in Indore and the bill was footed by a real estate company owned by Dilip Suryavanshi, a close friend of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Both Suryavanshi and Salim Khan, owner of Zeenat Tailors denied the allegation. Khan said he had only given a quotation for 10,000 burqas and it had been passed off as a bill.
Suryavanshi, too rejected the charge and said he knew nothing about any director of his company going to Indore and making any such payment.
Singh said in a press conference in Indore on Tuesday, “In the entire country, it is being built up that the Bharatiya Janata Party has the support of the Muslim minority. Now, as proof, I have with me a bill which shows that 10,000 burqas have been bought from Indore,”.
“Devendra Jain, director of the real estate company, Dilip Buildcon had personally come to Indore and paid `42 lakh in advance to Zeenat Tailors, who had given a bill of `44.60 lakh,” Singh told reporters.
{{/usCountry}}“Devendra Jain, director of the real estate company, Dilip Buildcon had personally come to Indore and paid `42 lakh in advance to Zeenat Tailors, who had given a bill of `44.60 lakh,” Singh told reporters.
{{/usCountry}}Despite repeated efforts, Digvijaya Singh could not be contacted for his comments on the issue.
Later in the day, Chouhan said, “The Congress is scared of the kind of arrangements being made. And that’s why some of our friends in the Congress are in the habit of making such frivolous statements. The statements do not carry any weight and nobody believes them.”