The Congress has demanded an “impartial investigation” into the alleged MNREGA scam and the removal of Gujarat Minister Bhachubhai Khabad from the state cabinet and the BJP. Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dahod, as part of his two-day trip to Gujarat on May 26 and 27, the Congress party also sought time for a meeting with the Prime Minister.
The Aam Aadmi Party, too, demanded the resignation of Khabad in light of both his sons being arrested in the alleged Rs 71 crore scam.
While Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Shaktisinh Gohil on Friday announced a ‘Vikas Khoj Yatra’, to be launched across the state to “expose the scams in various schemes. An AAP delegation, led by Naresh Baria, meanwhile, submitted a memorandum to the Panchmahal District Collector on Friday, on the detention of their party workers and MLA Chaitar Vasava before they could conduct a rally in protest of the MGNREGA scam.
Gohil said: “The way in which corruption worth Rs 71 crore has come to light in development works in Dahod and especially in MGNREGA in just two talukas is shocking. And if an impartial investigation is conducted, corruption worth crores of rupees will come to light from the entire district.” He said he has sought time through an email to the Prime Minister for a meeting with a Congress delegation, which would include former MPs, former MLAs, and representatives of social organisations.
“If Bachubhai Khabad continues as a minister, how can there be an impartial investigation? Not just resignation… he should be dismissed. The Congress party demands that Khabad be expelled from the BJP. There is also a demand for a CBI investigation led by a sitting judge of the High Court. It is necessary that the CBI conducts the probe instead of the Gujarat police,” he added.
Talking about the ‘Vikas Khoj Yatra’, Gohil said: “The yatra will first be held in Dahod district and tribal areas. Due to widespread corruption, Gujarat’s treasury is being depleted and the poor, common and the middle class are being looted.”
Gohil further said that in January this year, MLAs from his party submitted a complaint along with proofs to the government stating that widespread complaints of corruption related to the MGNREGA scheme had been received. Party leader Amit Chavda too, at a press conference in Gandhinagar on Friday, stated that he and other local leaders had written letters to the state government about corruption complaints in Dahod and Panchmahal districts.
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A statement from the AAP on Friday said, “Big scams have been happening in the MGNREGA scheme in the villages of Dahod. BJP minister Bachu Khabad and his sons are estmtimated to have committed a scam of Rs 1,500 crore. Just now a scam of Rs 71 crore has come to light. We demand his (Kabad’s) resignation and strict action against him.”
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