MP By-Elections: A political controversy has erupted few days ahead of the Madhya Pradesh by-elections. Audio of purportedly Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has gone viral on social media where he is heard speaking to Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Roshan Mirza influencing him not to contest the elections. Also Read|'Every Indian Will Get Covid Vaccine, 28000 Points To Monitor Distribution', PM Modi Amid Coronavirus Threat Digvijaya Singh is reportedly asking Mirza ‘why are you contesting elections to let BJP win’. In a conversation, Mirza said that he got a call from Digvijay Singh about four days ago. In this, he promised not to contest elections while giving assurance of the councilor’s ticket. In the audio, Digvijaya Singh is saying, "You know under which circumstances are the BJP-Congress contesting. Don’t get into these rounds, go and meet Devendra Sharma (District President, Congress). He will tell you what happens next, you will be taken care of. Will also get a councilor’s ticket. ABP News could not confirm that the audio is of Digvijaya Singh.

Roshan Mirza confirms Digvijaya Singh asked him to withdraw from polls

Roshan Mirza, Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from Gwalior said that Congress leader Digvijaya Singh asked him to withdraw from the upcoming by-poll. "Digvijaya Singh called me and told me to withdraw from upcoming by-polls. He said I will give you Councillor's ticket. I told him I won't withdraw and will contest," Mirza told ANI when asked about the purported viral audio in which Digvijaya Singh was allegedly asking him to withdraw. Mirza also alleged that a Congress leader named Aslam offered him Rs 10 lakh to withdrawn his candidature.

BJP leaders attack Congress for poaching of MLAs

After the news broke out BJP Leader Lokendra Mishra has slammed Digvijaya Singh saying "Singh has come out of his hole at last stage of elections. He doesn't believe in democracy but in management. He has said in past that elections are won by management." Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also attacked Digvijaya Singh over the viral audio," The kind of allegations that they used to make against us are now being proved on them. Money is being offered in that audio clip, now it's clear who does buying & selling (in politics)." On the other hand, Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath has earlier alleged that the BJP is offering huge sums of money to Congress MLAs to lure them ahead of the poll. Voting on 28 Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh by-polls will take place on November 3 and the results will be declared on November 10. By-elections are due on 28 seats following the resignation of 25 MLAs and the death of three legislators earlier. In March this year, 22 Congress MLAs resigned from the state Assembly paving the way for BJP's Shivraj Singh Chouhan to take over as Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister for the fourth time. Also Watch|MP by-elections: BJP Vs Congress over Digvijay Singh's viral audio