Maharashtra Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Minister Narhari Zirwal whose office at the Maharashtra state secretariat (Mantralaya) was raided and sealed by the Anti-Corruption Department after his officials were caught red-handed taking bribes, said on Saturday that he has nothing to do with the incident.
Sources said that Zirwal will meet Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in a day or two and give him an explanation about the incident in his office.
“I was away in Delhi for two days. Whatever happened yesterday was very wrong. This should not have happened. Rajendra Dherang works as a clerk. He is responsible for preparing the documents. He is originally an employee of the Food & Civil Supplies Department. This incident happened because of him. I will not support this incident.”
“I have never received a complaint about this employee before but it is wrong for a government employee to accept money like this. If money has been accepted, the person concerned will now have to face punishment,” Zirwal said.
When asked about the opposition targeting him, Zirwal said, “If anything against me is proven, then I will take responsibility for it. If it is proven that this corruption is related to me, I will resign,” Zirwal said.
Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar-led NCP leader has claimed that FDA Minister Narhari Zirwal whose office at the Maharashtra state secretariat was raided and sealed by the Anti-Corruption Department on Friday has been “framed” in the case.
“Narhari Zirwal is innocent. The details of who took the contract to frame him in the case will come to light very soon. Zirwal is a senior leader of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP and the face of the common people of the tribal community. He has done nothing wrong.”
However, the opposition has demanded that Zirwal must resign. Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP and chief Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said here on Saturday that Zirwal must resign on moral grounds to enable an unbiased investigation.
On Friday, the Congress had lambasted the Fadnavis government and demanded Zirwal’s resignation.
Congress leader Nana Patole alleged that corruption is thriving in all the offices of the state government. “Such corruption is going on in every department of the government. However, since Narhari Zirwal is a tribal, a trap was laid on him. They are trying to show how clean they are. It is an obvious fact that no signature is made without taking money in every department of the government,” Nana Patole said.
Congress state president Harshvardhan Sapkal said, “It has once again become clear that bribery and commission-taking are going on openly in the ministry during the reign of the corrupt Mahayuti government. A situation has arisen where public works cannot be done without money, which is a very serious matter. The Chief Minister should take cognisance of the matter, inform the public, and remove the corrupt minister from his post”.