Dec. 31 (The Telegraph): An exposé of phone conversations that suggest a nexus between Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh and his predecessor Ajit Jogi in getting a Congress candidate to withdraw from a by-election at the eleventh hour in 2014 has come as a boon as well as a curse for the Congress.

The purported conversations of Congress leader Jogi and his son Amit with Raman Singh's son-in-law Puneet Gupta, published by The Indian Express today, detail alleged efforts at ensuring the withdrawal of Congress candidate Manturam Pawar from the Antagarh Assembly by-election in Bastar region's Kanker district.

The taped conversations indicate money transaction and suggest the Congress nominee had met Raman Singh before the bypoll.

Manturam withdrew from the election and the BJP candidate, Bhojraj Nag, won the tribal seat. Expelled from the Congress immediately, Manturam joined the BJP earlier this year, lending credence to allegations that he was induced into withdrawing his nomination.

The Chhattisgarh Congress had filed a complaint with the Election Commission against the BJP and sought cancellation of the bypoll.

Today, the Congress claimed that the party stood vindicated, citing its complaint with the Election Commission in August 2014 itself about money exchanging hands to secure the withdrawal of Manturam.

The Congress also demanded the resignation of Raman Singh and a probe by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who repeatedly speaks about probity in public life, should ensure that Raman Singh steps down to allow a proper probe that will look into the role of the chief minister, the BJP and the Congress. Prima facie, it has been established that the chief minister is involved. If any Congress leader is found guilty, we will act against him also. We are submitting ourselves to the jurisdiction of such a probe," Congress media in-charge Randeep Surjewala said.

On the other hand, the Congress has to reckon with the possible task of taking disciplinary action against Jogi, a Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist who had weathered a similar storm over a decade ago and wields considerable clout in the local unit of the party even after defeats in three successive Assembly elections.

In 2003, after the Congress lost the Assembly elections under his watch in the newly formed state, Jogi, who was an IAS officer, is alleged to have tried to bribe some BJP legislators to form a breakaway group in the Assembly.

To begin with, the Congress has got its state unit to issue a showcause notice to Amit, Jogi's son and an MLA.

Amit has been given seven days to respond to the notice. As for Jogi, the party said it would await a report from the Pradesh Congress Committee. "Jogi is a member of the Central Working Committee. Once the PCC report comes, it will be referred to the disciplinary committee headed by A.K. Antony, and after that a decision will be taken," Congress general secretary B.K. Hariprasad said.

The Election Commission has taken cognisance of the newspaper report and directed the chief secretary of Chhattisgarh to initiate a "suitable" inquiry "urgently".

Stating that money may have been offered to the Congress candidate to withdraw from the by-election, the commission has sought a report in seven days with the chief secretary's comments.

Buffeted by the controversy just when he was about to embark on a pilgrimage to Nashik and Shirdi in Maharashtra, chief minister Raman Singh termed the allegations baseless and said neither his son-in-law nor his party had anything to do with the matter.

Jogi and his son have denied they had any role in the bypoll and questioned the veracity of the tapes. Amit claimed that the tapes were doctored.

The newspaper said two persons - Manturam and a former confidant of Jogi - had confirmed their voices on the tapes.

The BJP has 49 seats and the Congress 39 in the 90-member Assembly. The Congress had lost the 2013 Assembly polls by a margin of 0.75 per cent votes.

Photo credit: The Telegraph