JAIPUR:
Anirudh Bharatpur, son of former minister and sitting
Congress MLA Vishvendra Singh
, created a flutter on social media by alleging on Twitter on Monday that his father has become an alcoholic and is "violent" towards his (Anirudh's) mother.
He said he has not been in touch with his father - who, he claimed, had "destroyed the businesses of friends supporting me" - for six weeks now. In the evening, he deleted the tweet.
A screenshot of the tweet posted by Anirudh Bharatpur on MondayVishvendra Singh, on the other hand, said the Twitter post by his son was due to the latter's immaturity.
"He is in Delhi for the last two months, living in a five-star hotel," Vishvendra Singh said. "I have no debts to seek his help to clear. Whatever I have is of my son (sic). He is my only heir," the former minister said. Asked why then was his son going public with a family issue, the ex-minister replied, "He is not doing it for the first time. When I was minister, he had done it then too."
Vishvendra Singh's wife, Diya Kumari, did not respond to TOI's phone calls. Singh had been sacked as Rajasthan tourism minister last year for joining Sachin Pilot in rebellion against chief minister Ashok Gehlot. Anirudh had tweeted, "He has ... collected debt, turned alcohol (sic)... It is not just a difference of political ideologies."
Initially, Twitter users thought someone had hacked his account. But Anirudh confirmed to TOI over the phone on Monday that the tweets were his. He alleged his father was harassing him and his mother as he wanted money to pay off huge debts.
"I stand by whatever I said on Twitter. For the last 15 years we are doing our business independently from my father. If we are doing our business separately from him, why should we clear his debts? When we refused to clear debts, he turned violent," Anirudh claimed. "Vaibhav Chaudary is a friend of mine in Bharatpur, he was also attacked," he alleged.
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