: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday joined a battery of his party leaders who in no uncertain terms castigated the Congress after the seizure of Rs 351 crore from Odisha’s multiple country-liquor manufacturing units and selling points which have got alleged links with Jharkhand Rajya Sabha member Dheeraj Sahu.
He said the Congress used Sahu as its bank ATM.
Pradhan’s diatribe came a day after Sahu broke his silence and clarified that that the seized cash from liquor manufacturing units in Odisha neither belongs to the Congress nor any other political party.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the BJP’s Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra at Barang near here, Pradhan said, “The world knows that Dheeraj Sahu is the ATM for the Gandhi family.”
Sahu had said, “The matter is between them and the I-T Department. My relatives will clarify on that later. But before all that, we should wait for a statement from the I-T Department. They will tell whether the seized cash is black money or white money. All the cash seized was from sales of liquor. Baldeo Sahu and Sons and Ritesh Sahu and Sons firms are owned by my relatives. Besides, there are other relatives of mine who own such firms too.”
Pradhan said the Odisha Government’s “moth-eaten” excise policy is greatly twisted to favour liquor manufacturers and traders.
