State Congress president Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday alleged that the ruling BJP Government in Chhattisgarh has extended undue favour to Korba-based Bharat Aluminium Company ltd (BAlCO) while allocating Bauxite mine fields in the State.
Referring to a recent statement of Chief Minister Raman Singh that natural beauty of Jashpur would not be compromised for taking up Bauxite mining in the area, Baghel, while addressing a news conference here alleged that the Chief Minister did not want to allocate Bauxite mines to any other company despite the fact that several applications were already pending with the Government in this regard.
“The State Government had been extending undue favor to industrialist Anil Agrawal and his company BAlCO with regard to allocation of Bauxite mines in Chhattisgarh,” he said.
On the issue of ‘Elephant Corridor’ in Korba and Surguja region of Chhattisgarh, Baghel remarked, ‘The Government had reduced significant area of the ‘Elephant Corridor’ falling between Korba and Surguja region for exploiting coal and minerals from the area, which is a wrong decision.”
Replying to the BJP allegation of corruption in the mining of diamonds at Devbhog mines during the tenure of Satyanarayan Sharma as Minister for Mineral Resources during the Congress rule in Chhattisgarh, Baghel questioned why the case was not opened all these yearsIJ
Baghel challenged the BJP to provide an answer over the allegations levelled against the Congress party over the coal block scam in Chhattisgarh .
Replying to another query over the reported issue of BJP’s candidate from Durg lok Sabha seat Saroj Pandey seeking support in the polls on the official letterhead of Member of Parliament (MP), the State Congress President said that District Electoral Officer (DEO) would take cognizance of the matter to take appropriate action.
Baghel also condemned Pandey for blatantly defending a rape accused Hari Om Tiwari as he is a BJP Corporator.