While addressing a function held to unveil the statue of Lt General Sagat Singh Rathore in Churu city on Wednesday evening, Chief Minister Sharma kept on verbal assault against the grand old party’s leadership and previous regimes led by them.
Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma (Photo:SNS)
The outbreak of fire in the HPCL-Rajasthan oil refinery in Pachpadra on Monday has brought a flashpoint in the ongoing war of words between Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and his predecessor Ashok Gehlot with the former accusing the latter of scams and irregularities in the acquisition of land for the refinery and related affairs.
While addressing a function held to unveil the statue of Lt General Sagat Singh Rathore in Churu city on Wednesday evening, Chief Minister Sharma kept on verbal assault against the grand old party’s leadership and previous regimes led by them.
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Reiterating his criticism of his arch rivals, Sharma made a volley of potshots on usual contentious issues like Women Reservation Bill, Yamuna Water Agreement, ERCP and the Opposition’s stance on the Operation Sindoor and surgical strikes.
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Besides the usual charges, the Chief Minister added two more issues to his tirade by levelling charges of scams in land deals and other irregularities in the Pachpadra refinery area and affairs related to the mega project.
“Congress Ke logon Ne Refinery Mein Kai Tareh Ke Ghotale Aur Jameenon Ke Ghotale Kiye Hein. Enme Congress Ke Log Kaise Kaam Kar Rahe Thhe ?(Congress cadres committed several scams in land deals and other sorts of irregularities in refinery area and activities. How (& why) they were working, how did they get a chance ? “Purva CM Ashok Gehlot Ko Enka Hisab Dena Chahiye” (Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot should give an explanation on it).
He also charged the Congress leadership with committing scams in the defence procurement deals under their previous regimes. They overlooked the needs of the Army and interest of soldiers.
The Chief Minister’s accusations attracted an instant rejoinder by ex-CM Gehlot who had written a post on social media within hours last evening itself. Gehlot held that Chief Minister’s utterances was merely an attempt to divert people’s attention from the unfortunate incident of fire in refinery a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Pachpadra to inaugurate the plant.
The incident of fire was the outcome of a hastily planned event of inauguration, which forced authorities to postpone the PM’s visit. The fresh volley of allegations is bid to hide this failure in due management and handling of the situation.
Gehlot said, “If Congress people have really committed scams, why didn’t they take due action under their 12 year regime at the Centre and more than 2-year rule in the state.”
Rajasthan Parliamentary Affairs Minister Joga Ram Patel too was equally quick in refuting former Chief Minister’s assertions. In a statement late last night Patel said, “Gehlot should talk on facts, he should not mislead people.”
He said the delay in the mega project was due to lack of planning, vision and roadmap for the implementation by the erstwhile Congress. The then government made only hollow announcements, the actual work on the ground started only after initiatives by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018.
About the scams, Patel said, “Land scams in the refinery area were well known, people know about it”.
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