Kasganj: Gopal Agarwal, a businessman in Uttar Pradesh’s Kasganj, has put up posters naming and shaming the local BJP MLA from Patiyali, Mamtesh Shakya, accusing him of not paying dues amounting to Rs 80,000 that have been pending for the past five years.
Agarwal, along with his family, has been sitting on a dharna outside his shop since Saturday.
He alleged that ahead of the 2017 polls, Shakya had tasked him with arrangements for the rally of BJP leader and star campaigner Rajnath Singh.
After the public event, a bill of Rs 3.5 lakh was handed over to the MLA, but the latter paid only Rs 2.7 lakh and asked Agarwal to “forget the rest”.
Dismissing the allegations as “completely baseless”, the MLA said the businessman has been “misled” by the opposition parties to defame him.
Agarwal, who has been actively associated with BJP for three decades, said: “MLA Mamtesh Shakya had contacted me to make arrangements for a mega poll event in 2017. So, we built a makeshift stage, visiting room, set up a tent, provided mattresses and barricades at SBR inter college ground. Also, 5,000 chairs and several sofa sets were placed.
“I took up the matter with senior BJP leaders, but no one helped me. They only said that the MLA was the rally organiser and they were not concerned with the matter. I had also placed a complaint through the state government’s grievance redressal system, but local authorities took no action. Being a dedicated BJP worker, I had not kept a profit margin. Now, with no other option left, I have decided to publicly protest with my family.”
Kasganj is polling on Sunday.
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