Congress pays extra Rs 4 lakh for Rahul Gandhi event site in Indore

The Congress on Thursday deposited an additional Rs 4.03 lakh with the Indore Development Authority for the temporary lease of land for its 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' event on September 19, which will be addressed by Rahul Gandhi. With this, the party's total payment for the site has gone up to Rs 14.11 lakh.

The additional payment came after the authority said the party had used part of the land before the approved lease period. The demand also triggered a political exchange, with the BJP saying the issue was about collecting the prescribed revenue for the use of government land, while the Congress alleged the administration was acting under pressure from ruling party leaders.

Officials said the Congress had first deposited Rs 10.08 lakh for the temporary lease. In a letter to City Congress Committee president Chintu Chouksey, the authority said 12,000 square metres of land had been allotted on a temporary lease for the event from September 17 to 19. However, a site inspection found that 4,800 square metres of land had been used by the party from September 14.

For this, the authority asked the party to deposit an additional Rs 4.03 lakh as a three-day lease fee. A Congress leader said the amount had been paid, taking the total to Rs 14.11 lakh.

The authority's demand came after BJP state spokesperson Rakesh Singh Yadav complained that the space was being used beyond the stipulated period, in violation of the permit terms. "This matter is not about opposing any political event, but about the collection of prescribed revenue for the use of government land," Yadav said in a statement.

Chouksey objected to the demand and said it had come due to pressure from BJP leaders. He alleged that the administration was acting as a puppet of the ruling party leaders.

The Congress had earlier sought permission on September 12 to hold Gandhi's event at the city's Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. But Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava said that, under an old order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the stadium could be used only for sports events or state-level government events. The Congress then rescheduled the programme for September 19 and applied for land opposite the Regional Park.

'Chhatron Ki Goonj' is a student-dialogue campaign launched by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi to target the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on issues such as question paper leaks, expensive education, irregularities in government recruitment and unemployment. So far, four editions of the programme have been held under Gandhi's leadership in Kota, Dehradun, Prayagraj and Pune.

In sum, the Congress has paid the additional amount sought by the Indore Development Authority for alleged early use of the event site, even as the dispute over the charge has led to a fresh exchange between the BJP and the Congress ahead of Rahul Gandhi's September 19 programme.