The Cabinet Minister and the State Government spokesperson Madan Kaushik said on Tuesday- two days before the budget session of the Assembly is to start- that the Opposition is welcome to raise the corruption-related questions during the session. “As the State Government has adopted a zero tolerance policy on corruption we have no problem in replying the queries to be raised by the Opposition on the matter,” he said.
However, at the same time, he reminded the Opposition the fact that the state government has already recommended a CBI probe into the NH-74 land use scam with the primary investigation having already been completed by the erstwhile Kumaon Commissioner. “The Opposition should thus hold fire regarding the role of the State Government on graft-related issues. However, we think that rampant factionalism running in the Congress would provoke them to launch unjustified onslaught on the state government. While working under the factional pressure, the Opposition leaders are changing statements from time to time. But our stance on CBI probe into the alleged scam is persistent and unambiguous,” he said.
Continuing on the NH land acquisition scam, he said that acting on the investigation report, the State Government has lodged FIR and suspended six officers, including four SDMs, with immediate effect.
Taking a dig at the Congress, Kaushik said that though the Congress has 11 MlAs in the 71-member House they are divided into 10 different groups squabbling among themselves. “I am appealing to the leader of the Opposition to raise issues on their merits and not to wreck vengeance on the treasury bench to settle personal scores,” he said.
While speaking of the recent transfer of the Kumaon commissioner that has triggered a row with the Opposition being set to raise the issue in the upcoming session while linking it with a move to scuttle the probe, Kaushik said that his transfer was routine. “Besides, he has been transferred after he completed his investigation. The Opposition should thus refrain from inventing things in it to corner the treasury bench,” he said.
While referring to the session to be held in Dehradun instead of Gairsain, the state cabinet minister said that the loP has no moral right to say anything on it. “When I as an MlA brought a motion on the matter during the Congress regime the Congress-helmed Government turned it down. The party has been taking the people for a ride on the emotive matter and the people dealt it a severe blow during the recently concluded Vidhan Sabha election,” he said.
He further said that BJP had included the issue of Gairsain, projected as the future capital of the State, in its vision document. “ Our stand is crystal clear on it, devoid of any ambiguity. We would go for the formal announcement after infrastructure is put into place. The announcement might be made on the floor of the House when the right time comes,” he said.
While responding to the allegation raised by loP that the state government is expanding the areas of the municipal corporation arbitrarily without taking into confidence the elected public representatives, Kaushik said that they are acting on the norm that says that the government would give public notice through advertisements following which the officers would interact with the people and public representatives. “Once an agreement is reached the Government would move ahead. The statements the Opposition is giving in the media are baseless. The Government is yet to issue an order on it,” he said. However, in the same breath, he said that as far as urbanisation is concerned the State Government wants to make Pithoaragarh, Srinagar and Uttarkashi as fully developed cities.