Accusing the Congress of desperation in view of impending defeat in the parliamentary elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman and MLA Munna Singh Chauhan said that if even an iota of corruption is found in the Suryadhar project as alleged by the Congress, he and the chief minister would resign from their posts.
Addressing the media Chauhan said, “It is disappointing to see how the Congress is stooping to concocted stories to attack the character of the chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and his family. In the Suryadhar project, neither the CM nor any of his family member has bought an inch of land. On the day of the foundation laying for the project, the CM, while addressing the public had exhorted the locals to desist from selling their land and start their own enterprises on their land instead,” he said, while playing the brief video clip of the CM’s speech for the media.
He went on to state that the detailed project report for Suryadhar project set the cost of the project at about Rs 48 crore during the term of the Congress state government. This was cancelled in 2018 and the revised project cost was brought down to about Rs 30 crore. He said, “Not only was the cost brought down by about Rs 18 crore but the height of the dam was raised by two metres. The Congress should answer where this Rs 18 crore was to be siphoned off. As far as the land purchased by the CM's family member is concerned, it is located in Chamasari, about 30 kilometres from the project site. One can only pity the Congress leaders for making such foolish statements. Do they mean to say the CM fixes the circle rates of land? It should be understood clearly that what one private individual says has nothing to do with the the chief minister’s functioning. If the Congress is able to prove its allegations, I and the CM will resign. I am throwing this challenge because I am confident that zero tolerance for corruption has been effectively enforced by the CM. Further, the CM had provided information about all of his and his wife’s assets including the said land in his nomination filed during the Assembly elections. It is on record. The Congress should apologise to the public for making such baseless and concocted allegations,” he stressed.