Prime Minister Narendra Modi fired salvos at the Congress-run Chhattisgarh government on Friday in Raipur while addressing party workers at the Vijay Sankalp Yatra. The PM hit out at the Baghel government over corruption amid the ongoing liquor scam investigation.
He said, “One of the 36 promises made in Congress’s manifesto was liquor ban in the state. 5 years on and the Congress govt has committed thousands of crores of liquor scam. Newspapers are filled with reports on the same.”
He added that the Cong government has betrayed the mothers and sisters of Chhattisgarh. “The (liquor scam) commission money has allegedly gone to Cong’s kitty,” PM said.
Taking a jibe at the rift between Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and Deputy Chief Minister TS Singh Deo, PM Modi quipped, “Some say the 2.5-year formula for Chief Ministership couldn’t be implemented due to the scam.”
Calling the Chhattisgarh government the “Congress model of Corruption”, PM Modi said the state is like an atm for the Congress party. “Their scams are not limited to liquor. There is not a single department and area of work which is out of the ambit of doubt. Coal mafia, sand mafia, land mafia…all kinds of mafias are dwelling under Congress. They didn’t even spare the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme. All including ground-level leaders to top ministers in Congress are accused. The Chhattisgarh government is a model of Cong corruption and misgovernance.”
The Prime Minister also mocked the Opposition saying, “Those who are blotted are trying to come together now. Those who used to incessantly curse each other are today trying to find excuses to join forces. They think by doing this they can scare Modi. Every corrupt must hear this that if they are the guarantee of corruption then Modi is the guarantee of action against corruption.”
Saying that the Congress party cannot breathe without corruption, PM warned that whoever is involved in graft will not be spared. “Whatever I have today has been given by you, by the nation. They will threaten to dig my grave, they will conspire against me but they don’t know that he who is afraid cannot be Modi.”
Meanwhile, reaching out to the farmers, downtrodden, tribals, and Adivasis, PM said that the Congress government has only made false guarantees to them. “Congress has always used the tribals and adivasis as a vote bank. Congress has always deprived tribals of resources and facilities. It is the BJP government that included them under Scheduled Tribes list. Districts which are difficult to visit have been deemed backward and ignored by Cong,” he said.
He criticised the Congress governments for “insulting Adivasi freedom fighters like Bhagwan Birsa Munda.” He listed the work done by the BJP to pay tribute to the Adivasi freedom fighters like Rani Durgavati.
He concluded that the Congress government will be ousted by the people of Chhattisgarh come the Assembly elections. PM Modi is on a two-day visit to poll-bound states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan.
What is the Chhattisgarh liquor scam?
The Enforcement Directorate unearthed a Rs 2161-crore liquor scam in Chhattisgarh wherein a crime syndicate allegedly run by some babus and top ministers altered the liquor policy to derive benefits. Links to Congress and names of bureaucrats have emerged in the case. The ED on Thursday filed a prosecution complaint at the special PMLA court.
Baghel govt marred with graft charges
In January this year, OpIndia in its exclusive investigation exposed The Chhattisgarh Files revealing details of how the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in the state attempted to save the prime accused in the NAN scam.
In 2015, when the BJP was in power in Chhattisgarh and Dr Raman Singh was the Chief Minister, Congress had alleged that the government was distributing sub-standard quality grains under the PDS and that officials had received kickbacks from rice millers to allow this. The Nagrik Apurti Nigam is the nodal agency in Chhattisgarh responsible for procuring and distributing food grains under PDS.
The BJP government had launched a probe into what came to be known as the NAN scam and subsequently, 27 people were booked by the BJP govt – Anil Tuteja and Alok Shukla being the prime accused. ACB later started a money laundering probe as well and a chargesheet was filed in 2015. After this, Congress came to power in Chhattisgarh.
What transpired in Chhattisgarh after the Bhupesh Baghel government took reign was corruption with impunity, a coordinated campaign to save the primary accused, Anil Tuteja, in the NAN scam and an attempt to use IPS officers, the Judiciary and other means at the government’s disposal to Ex-Chief Minister, Raman Singh and his family members, former Principle Secretary Aman Singh and his wife Yasmeen Singh, Former DG (Police) Mukesh Gupta, Ashok Chaturvedi and Chintamani Chandrakar, using fabricated evidence, coercion of witnesses and other extra-judicial means.
