Even as the BJP has been adamant on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s resignation over the role of his office in coal block allocation scam, as found by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the opposition party too needs to answer to some questions about its state governments’ roles in Coalgate.
While the BJP has been making an all-out effort to project the prime minister and the UPA as the villain of the country’s biggest scam, which caused a loss of Rs.1.86 lakh crore to the exchequer, the party has remained silent about its own role in giving out captive coal blocks to dubious entities.
Information available with Headlines Today suggests that coal blocks in Chhattisgarh were allocated to firms without industrial base. Not only that, blocks were allocated at throwaway prices, leading to the loss of Rs.1,052 crore.
Ironically, the beneficiary from the alleged scam was BJP president Nitin Gadkari’s aide and parliamentarian Ajay Sancheti’s firm SMS Infrastructure. The tendering process for that coal block was vitiated as Sancheti’s company was the only one considered technically eligible for allocation. If that was not enough, the price quoted for Bhatgaon-II was abnormally low leaving out tell tale signs of a scam.
Apart from SMS Infrastructure the companies which have been under the scanner over Coalgate include Navbharat Coalfields, Solar Explosive Ltd and Prakash Industries.
Now the onus lies on Gadkari to explain if he leaned on Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh to get his aide a lucrative block. Even the chief minister, who was also in charge of power and mining departments, needs to answer the question. Himself being benefited from the questionable allocation, Sancheti too owes an explanation
Cinesign's Blog 