The Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee president, Kishore Upadhyay has written to Chief Minister Harish Rawat demanding that action be taken in the various cases of corruption and alleged scams that have emerged in the State all along. Stating that reports of alleged corruption and anomalies during the 16-year period since the State's formation had dented the image of the State and trust of the public, the PCC chief reiterated his demand for constituting an inquiry by a High Court justice to go into all such cases.
Addressing the media at the Congress Bhawan, the PCC chief said that in his letter to the CM he had stated that the public does not expect a party following on the footsteps of MK Gandhi to remain tolerant towards blatant corruption.
He said, "In the short period of 16 years since its being accorded statehood, various scams and alleged cases of corruption have emerged consistenly which in someway has also dented the image of Uttarakhand.
"Intellectuals and prominent citizens from various sections of society opine that failure to ensure complete formation of constitutional bodies in the State has prevented the execution of effective measures against corruption. The institution of lokayukta has not been formed yet in the State with the Bharatiya Janata Party also raising this as a major issue. The delay in appointment of the State Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners is also preventing the achievement of the mandate of such constitutional bodies. Regarding cases of corruption and irregularities, I had, during the implementation of President's rule in Uttarakhand approached the Governor in some cases and before the President's rule imposition had approached CM Harish Rawat seeking an independent investigation into the corruption cases. I had submitted a memorandum to Governor Krishan Kant Paul seeking an inquiry by a High Court justice into all the alleged corruption cases and scams dating from the State's formation on November 9, 2000 to the present time. Further I had also submitted a request for ascertaining the status of all the land plots allocated since 1990 to various organisations and bodies in the State and making the information public," said Upadhyay.
Referring to the Pardafash rally planned by the BJP, he questioned whether such rallies would also be undertaken in States under BJP Governments.