A day after the BJP State unit released a chargesheet against the Congress led UPA Government at the Centre and the Congress-led State Government, the Congress State unit brought out a list of the scams which had allegedly taken place during the term of the BJP led Government in Uttarakhand. Congress State spokesman Surendra Kumar Agarwal said that during the tenure of the BJP-led Government in Uttarakhand the Congress had listed 419 such alleged scams and submitted a complaint to the president of India and also to senior BJP leader lK Advani.
Addressing the media here on Thursday, Agarwal said that in 2011 during the term of the BJP led State Government, a Congress delegation including Satpal Maharaj who recently left the Congress and joined the BJP, had met the President of India and sought dismissal of the State Government citing 419 scams listed by the Congress. Maharaj had also contributed to listing these scams, he added. “We had also submitted the list of these scams to senior BJP leader lK Advani during his Chetna Yatra. The term of the BJP led government in Uttarakhand was marred by corruption with its chief minister being changed twice mainly due to corruption charges. On top of this, one of the BJP’s former chief ministers had called the Government headed by Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ as among the most corrupt in India. This further substantiated our allegation of 419 scams being orchestrated during the term of the BJP led State Government,” said Agarwal.
Replying to a question about the position on Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh’s affair with a television journalist after the Congress itself targeted Modi on his marital status, Agarwal said, “I believe that privacy must be respected but at the same time the conduct of people on important posts in public life must also be exemplary.”
Handing out a list containing some of the major scams out of the 419 cases listed by the Congress, Agarwal pointed out that the then State Potable Water Minister in the BJP Government, Prakash Pant had also acknowledged at the time that there were irregularities in 206 potable water works in the State. The major alleged scams during the term of the BJP led Government listed by the Congress include irregularities in the construction of the chief minister’s residence, purchase of implements for the Srinagar Medical College, raising the height of the Alaknanda hydro power project and land-use change scam among others.