Raipur, Sep 19 (PTI) A day after he was sacked as the legislature party leader of Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (J), Dharmjeet Singh on Monday accused the party leadership of removing him to cover up their "malpractices".

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Refuting the charges levelled against him in the expulsion letter, Singh accused JCC (J) state president Amit Jogi of misbehaving with his wife over the phone after he attended a function of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Raipur last month.

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JCC (J) national president and MLA Renu Jogi informed Chhattisgarh Assembly Speaker Charan Das Mahant about the legislator's expulsion in a letter on Sunday.

Singh, who represents the Lormi Assembly segment, has been expelled from the party for six years for ignoring the interests of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities and acting against the principles laid by the founder of the party, the late Ajit Jogi, the letter stated.

Talking to reporters in Raipur, the four-time MLA said the allegations levelled against him in the expulsion letter were completely false. He alleged that the JCC (J) leadership removed him to hide their "malpractices".

Singh alleged that Amit Jogi had used abusive words against him and his wife while talking to her over the phone last month after he and party MLA Pramod Sharma had attended a function of Shah in Raipur.

"Pramod and I went to the function as we were invited and people from different walks of life were also present there to listen to the home minister. I did not go there to join the BJP or to meet Shah.

"If Amit Jogi had any problem with it he should have called me…Why did he call my wife and use abusive language against her? I can tolerate everything in politics, but not the violation of probity. I cannot compromise on with self-respect," Singh said.

The MLA said he was rather grateful to the party leadership for removing him.

"Both Amit Jogi and Renu Jogi later apologised to me, but now to cover up these things they are accusing me of conniving with the BJP. I am not afraid of

anyone. If I do anything, I will do it openly," Singh said.

Without naming anyone, Singh claimed that his life is under threat.

Pramod Sharma, JCC (J) MLA from the Balodabazar constituency, who was also present at the press conference, targeted Amit Jogi. He dared Jogi to expel him from the party as well.

"I am openly stating against the party that it has lost its existence," Sharma said.

Former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi parted ways with the Congress in 2016 and floated the JCC (J), also known as Jogi Congress. He died in May 2020.

Currently, the JCC (J) has 3 MLAs, including Singh, in the 90-member House.

The ruling Congress has 71 MLAs, BJP 14, and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 2.

In the 2018 Assembly polls, the Ajit Jogi-led party had won five seats, but lost two of them to the Congress in the bypolls held later.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)