Shimla, Sep 19: Union Law and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today launched a blistering attack on Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for his alleged involvement in “corruption and financial impropriety” and said the governance had become a casualty in the state due to his focus on court cases.“ The agent is in jail and principal is on bail and even after exhausting all legal options and trying to get a stay from courts and seeking quashing of corruption cases, he is still holding on to his office,” he said while addressing a press conference here.
Asserting that the cases against Virbhadra were lodged during the UPA regime when the Modi government was not in power, he said the accusations of mala fide intention did not hold ground. Blaming the state government for not playing a pro-active role in getting financial benefits and projects from the Centre, Prasad said 61 national highways were sanctioned but it failed even to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) of any highway in spite of the fact that the Centre gave Rs 298 crore for preparation of the DPRs.
He said there were 2,623-km-long national highways in the state out of which 740 were under the NHAI while 1,900 km were with the state. Out of the 740, work was in progress in 243 km, works had been awarded for 41 km while the DPRs had been prepared for 450 km but situation was dismal in respect of the highway under the state government.
Prasad said the financial assistance from the Centre following 14th Finance Commission recommendations was Rs 75,281.28 crore which was 232 per cent more than the national average against the devolution of Rs 21,691 crore by the 13th commission. By adopting delaying tactics and failing to match the pro-active approach of the Centre, the state government was harming the interest of common people who were the actual users of the roads, he added.
Referring to the success of digitisation, he said 30 crore Jan Dhan accounts of poor people were opened and linked it with Aadhaar for direct bank transfer of subsidy, saving Rs 58,000 crore and eliminating the middlemen. It also helped in weeding out 2.50 crore bogus ration cards and 1.25 crore fictitious LPG connections.
“No case of corruption has surfaced during the NDA government and international agencies, including the International Monetary Fund, have rated India as the fastest economy in the world and also the best investment place,” he said. Taking a dig at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, he said the Congress leader had accepted that dynastic succession was the rule of law in the Congress.
He wondered that why he was not being made accountable for successive defeats of the Congress in the elections. He said in the BJP, there was no dynastic succession and right from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and union ministers like him and JP Nadda, everyone rose to their positions by sheer hard work, dedication and talent. By defending the principle of dynastic succession, Rahul had insulted the talent, potential and merit of the youth of the country. Replying to a question, he said the BJP was admitting people from the Congress and other parties on the basis of merit and without promise of ticket.
Source Tribune India
