| Published on 13-10-2007 In National |
| Viewed 1665 times |
| Chauhan becomes defender of the corrupt |
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Written by
N.D.Sharma |
A day after Leader of the Opposition in Madhya Pradesh Assembly Jamuna Devi filed a formal petition with Lokayukta about the alleged corrupt practices of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and his wife Sadhna Singh, State BJP president Narendra Singh Tomar came out with a statement that Jamuna Devi, too, had indulged in corrupt practices when she was a senior minister in the Congress government of Digvijay Singh.
As if that is justification enough for the present ministers to siphon off the public money to fill their own coffers. The BJP, in its manifesto for the 1993 Assembly elections, had described the ten-year regime of Digvijay Singh as a "black spot" in the history of Madhya Pradesh and pointed out that the State had never seen in the past "such corrupt and inefficient" government.
It has, however, taken no step in the past four years to check corruption in the government. Rather, the chief minister is accused of using most of the same bureaucrats, as were used by Digvijay Singh and his ministers. And these IAS and IPS officers are bending over backwards to keep the chief minister in good humour, and apparently helping him to expand his election treasure chest.
S.K.Mishra is a shining example of the depravity to which the IAS officers are succumbing. He was District Collector of Sehore and Returning Officer for Budhni by-election in which Shivraj Singh Chauhan, then MP from Vidisha, was elected to the Assembly. Mishra was virtually campaigning for the chief minister so blatantly, that the Election Commission was constrained to order an inquiry against him and ultimately order his immediate removal --- perhaps the only case in the country where a Returning Officer was removed in the midst of the campaign. Once the code of conduct period was over, Mishra was appointed District Collector of Bhopal --- a virtual promotion from a small district like Sehore. Soon afterwards, he was posted as Secretary to the Chief Minister.
Chauhan handpicked R.K.Sahni to make him chief secretary by ignoring claims of over half a dozen officers senior to him. Sahni continues to be chairman of MP Electricity Board also. So, Sahni ensured uninterrupted 24-hour power supply to the voters in Budhni during the by-election while the rest of the State was reeling under heavy power cuts. Again the Election Commission had to intervene.
Jamuna Devi's well-documented petition to Lokayukta does not refer to Chauhan's acts of omission and commission in the discharge of his official duties as the chief minister but makes out a case of corruption for the sake of corruption. Chauhan was sworn in chief minister on November 29,2005. On December 12, his government started allotting prospecting licences of mining in various villages in Rewa district to JP Associates which has a cement factory in the district. This was done in flagrant violation of the law. According to the documents, a total of 470.941 hectares of land was allotted to JP Associates while another 25.842 hectares of private land belonging to the farmers was also handed over to the JP Associates.
In May 2006, chief minister's wife Sadhna Singh purchased four heavy vehicles worth about Rs two crore "through JP Associates and for JP Associates". A copy of the registration of the vehicles, downloaded from the official site of the MP Transport Department's "E-Sewa" has been annexed to the petition.
Sadhna Singh's address in the registration papers has been given as Jaypee Nagar Plant, Rewa; but an "actual verification" revealed that no person by that name was staying at that address, the petition says. (In any case, neither Shivraj Singh Chauhan nor his wife Sadhna Singh belongs to Rewa nor neither of them has ever been known to transact any business there).
Besides, Jamuna Devi has annexed a copy of the affidavit filed by Chauhan before the Returning Officer of Sehore at the time of contesting the Budhni Assembly by-election in April 2006. The affidavit does not show that Chauhan or his wife possessed the vehicles. The income disclosed in the affidavit could not have made it possible for Sadhna Singh to purchase the heavy vehicles, the petition avers.
This also casts reflections on the functioning of the RTO. How were the vehicles registered in the name of Sadhna Singh without a proof of address which is a must under the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989? Jamuna Devi has also listed several other favours done to JP Associates by Chauhan's government. Apparently, not only the RTO but several other department heads were also placed by Chauhan at the disposal of the JP Associates.
Curious is the role of the RSS which had, soon after the BJP government had taken charge in Madhya Pradesh in early December 2003, decided to form core committees at the State and district levels to oversee, among other things, the conduct and accountability of the administrative officers, particularly to check corruption at various levels.
What we see today is that not only chief minister Chauhan himself faces serious allegations of corruption, but has also emerged as the defender of the corrupt. When the Lokayukta organisation put up a challan in the special court in a corruption case against an IAS officer, Chauhan promptly amended the service rules to ensure that the officers, against whom challans are submitted in courts, need not be placed under suspension. The Chief Minister was reportedly wondering if the Lokayukta Act itself could be amended to take out whatever sting it has now, but was said to have been advised against it. His immediate worry is to somehow save himself and the dozen-odd ministers facing serious corruption charges.
The people are getting restive. Ministers and other party leaders are facing hostility wherever they go. Even veterans like former Chief Minister Babulal Gaur, known for their live contact with their voters, have been turned back from their constituencies. They claim that a handful of Congressmen had mingled in the crowds and created the disturbance. They can thus humour themselves. But the people are not amused.
NB: A footnote was provided by veteran BJP leader and former chief minister Sunderlal Patwa. Two days after Jamuna Devi had filed her petition before Lokayukta, Patwa invited her to lunch at his house and told her that there was a provision for punishment to the complainant if the complaint to Lokayukta was found to be false. Incidentally, it was for the first time in septuagenarian Jamuna Devi's life that Patwa had invited her to lunch. |
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