India, July 17 -- A caste scrutiny committee (CSC) has said Pratima Bagri, BJP MLA and state minister, belongs to the Scheduled Caste (SC) Bagri community, dismissing a Congress leader's allegation that she is a Rajput.

Bagri, 37, state minister for urban development and housing, was elected in 2023 from Raigaon, an SC-reserved seat, and later inducted into the cabinet.

The committee led by SC welfare department principal secretary Gulshan Bamra and three other officers scrutinised relevant certificates Bagri, 37, submitted before passing the order. The controversy began after Pradeep Ahirwar, the Congress SC wing state president, filed a petition in the Madhya Pradesh High Court on March 7, accusing Bagri and her family of fraudulently...