Congress alleges crores funneled to BJP functionaries from Uttarakhand CM’s discretionary fund meant for poor, needy

Senior party leader and chairman of Uttarakhand Congress State Election Management Committee Harak Singh Rawat on Monday alleged since state’s BJP government is doling out crores of rupees from CM’s discretionary fund to BJP functionaries in the Champawat and Udhamsingh Nagar districts, the Narendra Modi-led Central government’s policy led to LPG crisis in the country.

Making big allegations against the Dhami government, Harak Singh Rawat said majority of the fund from Uttarakhand Chief Minister’s discretionary fund was being channelised to a few office bearers of the ruling party in selected districts but not the common man.

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Presenting documents obtained via RTI, he alleged, “CM’s discretionary fund was being brazenly misused and funneled crores of rupees in the accounts of BJP office bearers in Udham Singh Nagar and Champawat districts linked to the chief minister’s political fortune.”

Naming a few of the beneficiaries, Rawat alleged, “BJP officials Subodh Majumdar, Bharat Singh, and a host of others are receiving ₹5 lakh annually in Udhamsingh Nagar while Hayat Singh Mehra, a BJP leader, and others like him are paid ₹4 lakh consistently in their bank accounts.”

“Chief Minister’s discretionary fund is used mainly for the welfare of poor and needy persons but here it’s being doled out to the BJP workers and functionaries,” said Rawat.

According to him, “RTI papers have revealed suspicious entries in Champawat. It included a ₹3 lakh payment to an unnamed person and ₹2 lakh to someone listed merely as Chairman in transferring money from CM discretionary fund.”

“If the data for payments in all districts is brought to the fore, it could result in the state’s biggest scam in Uttarakhand’s history,” Rawat stated, demanding an impartial probe into the money disbursed from the chief minister’s discretionary fund.

In another accusation, the Congress heavyweight blamed the BJP-led Narendra Modi government for the LPG and fuel crisis in the country. He said, “A crisis-like situation has arisen across the country over LPG supply. The Central government is misleading the public instead of accepting the shortage of cooking gas and Petroleum fuels.”

The Congress leader attributed the shortage of Petroleum products and LPG to “short-sighted policies of the Modi government. “India’s LPG imports have increased from 47 per cent in 2014 to 66 per cent as of now while fuel oil imports have climbed up from 83 percent to 88 percent in the same time,” he added.

“This state of affairs and increasing dependence on imported LPG and oil has cropped up mainly due to failure to increase domestic production,” he contended.