MP-POLL-CHAT

A WhatsApp chat between

Shahdol district collector and her deputy, in which the former

purportedly asked the latter to ensure the BJP's victory in an

assembly seat here, has gone viral on social media platforms.

Police have registered a case against an unidentified

person after the controversial WhatsApp text messages between

collector Anubha Shrivastava and her deputy Puja Tiwari went

viral, an official said.

The incident prompted the ruling Congress to declare

that it would seek re-polling in the Jaitpur constituency,

which it lost in the November 28 assembly polls.

Deputy collector Tiwari has lodged a complaint with

the Kotwali police station here, alleging the messages in

question were "fake".

Acting on the complaint, the unidentified accused has

been booked.

"The unidentified accused was booked under IT Act on

Wednesday on the complaint of Tiwari and investigations are

underway," district additional superintendent of police (ASP)

Praveen Bhuria said.

The screen shots of messages showed Shrivastava

purportedly asking Tiwari to help the BJP win elections from

Jaitpur when it was trailing hours before the result was

announced on December 11.

The collector's purported message reads that if Tiwari

helps the BJP, she would be paid back with the post of Sub-

Divisional Magistrate (SDM).

"We are going to write to Election Commission to

remove the collector and hold a re-poll in Jaitpur," district

senior Congress leader and former MLA Rampal Singh told

reporters Friday.

"We want re-poll in Jaitpur. The incident is very

serious," he added.

Shrivastava was not available for comments despite

repeated phone calls.