The political temperature in Jharkhand rose sharply on Sunday after the state BJP accused Health Minister Dr Irfan Ansari of sheltering a multi-crore tender scam and practicing “appeasement” in contract allocations. The Congress rejected the charges as baseless and politically motivated.
BJP state spokesperson Ajay Sah alleged in a press conference that over the past year, 11 tenders floated in Ranchi, Dumka, Jamtara, Seraikela, Bokaro, and Deoghar were all awarded to companies linked to a single family in Ranchi.
He said the family registered three firms, Hind Infratech, Bharat Suppliers, and Global Suppliers, at the same address with common directors. Despite this overlap, each firm was declared eligible and granted work orders.
“This is not coincidence but a carefully planned loot under the protection of the health minister,” Sah said. He added that under GEM portal rules, multiple companies floated by the same individual should have been disqualified at the technical stage.
Instead, they were awarded tenders and even received payments. He demanded cancellation of all such tenders and an independent inquiry into what he termed both financial corruption and religious favoritism.
Sah also alleged that the minister was using his position to benefit vendors from his own community. He said that even the proposal for RIMS-2 was designed only for profiteering and not to improve healthcare services in the state.
The Congress dismissed the allegations as laughable, half-baked, and factually incorrect. State Congress media in-charge Rakesh Sinha said the BJP was attempting to target Dr. Ansari because he comes from the minority community. He also said that the BJP, whose national president has been convicted in a defence scam, had no moral authority to raise questions on corruption.
According to the Congress, the tenders cited by the BJP were already in process before Dr Ansari assumed charge. The party said the health minister has no role in the selection of contractors, which is done by district tender committees. L-1 bidders are awarded contracts as per rules. On receiving complaints, the minister ordered a departmental probe and assured that any wrongdoing would be dealt with strictly.
The Congress further accused the BJP of spreading misinformation to divert attention from its own failures. Sinha said the allegations were driven by fear of Dr. Ansari’s growing popularity and credibility among the public.
With both parties trading charges, the controversy has opened another front in Jharkhand’s political tussle. The BJP is pressing for cancellation of tenders and an independent probe, while the Congress insists that due process is already underway.