The party takes a jibe at Narendra Modi’s comment and exposes the double standards prevailing in the BJP.
After state Education Minister Vinod Tawde has been accused of irregularities in clearing contracts worth Rs 191 crore without following e-tendering process the Congress has upped the ante against BJP. The Congress took a jibe Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments ‘Na khaunga na khaane dunga’ and exposed the double standards prevailing in the BJP. The party has also demanded the resignation of Vinod Tawde who also has been alleged of submitting fake degree. Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, had said that Congress would stall Monsoon session proceedings if no action was taken against Tawde. Of late BJP has been facing a tough time as many of its ministers like Tawde and Pankaja Munde have been embroiled in corruption controversies. Congress has stepped up the attack against BJP and is trying to revive itself by raising these issues. Thus everyday a new scam is emerging under the reign on the incumbent BJP government.
The state Finance Department has ordered a detailed investigation into the alleged irregularities. The contract has, meanwhile, been put on hold following the probe sought by the Finance Department.
When AV spoke to Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant about this issue he remained candid and backed his statements with facts. He said, “When Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected he had said ‘Na khaunga na khaane dunga’ but the reverse is happening today. Even Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had proposed e-tendering process to maintain transparency but norms were violated. We are planning to raise this issue in the assembly session on 13th July.”
Nawab Malik, NCP spokesperson said, “Why do we require fire extinguisher in a one room class? Tawde received partial payment and utilised ten percent of the funds. After the Department of Finance took “Suo Moto” cognizance of the matter were the funds recalled.”
Ravi Srivastava, AAP state executive committee member said, “All these scams have just surfaced. They have not followed the least cumbersome e-tendering process which provides information about the most competitive vendors. These leaders are least bothered about people’s welfare and are busy making money.”
On the other hand, Tawde said that all the allegations made against him are baseless. He said, “Not one paisa from the government exchequer has been misused. We stopped the order immediately after the finance department raised objections.”
Defending Tawde, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said, “The opposition is making a mountain out of mole hill. I must thank the education minister that he closed the file immediately.”
“Such allegations cannot be made without political conspiracy. There is a dirty political conspiracy in this matter”, he alleged.
He also added that the file regarding the contract was first moved during the previous Congress-NCP government.
The contract was for supply of fire extinguishers to 62,105 zilla parishad schools in Maharashtra. Every school was to receive three fire extinguishers worth Rs 8,321 each.
The School Education Department had on February 11 earlier this year authorised the Education Director (Primary), Mahavir Mane, to enter into the contract.
The contract was awarded by the Education Director (Primary) to Thane-based Reliable Fire Engineers on February 27.
However, no approval was taken from the Finance Department before clearing or signing the contract.
