Caught in a sand storm over the recent sand mining auction, the Congress party on Tuesday sought an investigation by the Centre’s premier agency into the sand and liquor contracts allotted by the previous SAD-BJP Government.
Party’s senior leaders and legislators have written a letter to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh urging him to order a CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) probe into the sand and liquor contracts allotted during the last 10 years of the Akali-BJP rule.
Opposition parties, including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiromani Akali Dal, and Bharatiya Janata Party, have all along been seeking ouster of Cabinet Minister Rana Gurjit Singh for alleged benami transactions through his employees to buy sand mining contracts.
“‘The massive revenue generated by the sand and liquor auction recently should be enough reason for the Government to probe as why the contracts were allotted for such low amount during the Akali-BJP regime,”’ said the Congress leaders in a letter signed by ludhiana MP Ravneet Singh Bittu, MlAs Rakesh Pandey, Surinder Dawer, Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Kuldeep Singh, Sanjay Tawlar, among others.
The letter pointed out that the highest money generated during the Akali-BJP regime was Rs 40 crore only, while the Congress Government generated revenue to the tune of Rs 1,026 crore for relatively lesser number of mines.
Similarly, the liquor auction during the Congress regime also fetched huge amount as compared to the revenue generated during the Akali-BJP regime.
“‘It is a common knowledge that the Akali-BJP leaders looted and robbed the State in all ways whether it was sand mining or liquor trade…Each and every auction by the Akali-BJP regime needs to be probed and the losses to the state exchequer be established and responsibility fixed,”’ added the letter.
They suggested the Akali-BJP leaders should better introspect than blame the Congress. “‘If they (the Akali-BJP) think, by levelling false and baseless allegations against the Congress regime, they will divert the attention and get away with all their sins of omission and commission, they are miserably mistaken and they must be held accountable for it,”’ the Congress leaders urged the Chief Minister.