Photographs: Mansi Thapliyal/Reuters
Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal took on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as well as the Congress on Tuesday evening.
He alleged that while Modi and the Congress were busy slamming each other in public, they were making lucrative business transactions with the same group of people and reaping benefits.
A press statement by Kejriwal's Aam Admi Party stated, "In Gujarat elections, Modi and Congress appear to be politically pitched against each other. But documents reveal that behind the curtains, they are happy doing business with each other and with the same set of people".
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Kejriwal goes after Narendra Modi, Congress
Photographs: Courtesy: AAP Facebook page
Kejriwal claimed that the Modi government had given away gas blocks to two firms -- Geo Global and Jubilant Enpro Pvt. Ltd -- without any process of competitive bidding. These gas blocks originally belong to the Gujarat State petroleum Corporation and are worth Rs 10,000 crore each.
The press statement says, "Geo Global was incorporated just six days before their agreement with GSPC. On the day of the agreement, its total capital was $ 64 (Rs 3200) only. The company is owned by some Jean Paul Roy. So, from Rs 3200 worth company, it became a Rs 10,000 crore worth company within six days.
Whereas Modi government is trying to defend its agreement with Geo Global saying that Geo Global provided technical expertise, Geo Global in its own admission to Securities and Exchange Commission in US has said that it does not have the necessary expertise. CAG has raised serious doubts about Geo Global's technical competence".
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Kejriwal goes after Narendra Modi, Congress
Photographs: Reuben N V/Rediff.com
To substantiate his claims, Kejriwal pointed out the close links between Congress, the Gandhi family and Jubilant Enpro Pvt Ltd.
The press release says, "Jubilant Enpro Pvt Ltd is owned by Shyam Sunder Bhartia, who is husband of Mrs Shobhana Bhartia. Mrs Shobhana Bhartia was nominated to Rajya Sabha by Congress. She has been known to be extremely close to Congress and Gandhi family.
Isn't it strange that Modi grants a Rs 10,000 crore illegal benefit to someone so close to Congress? Isn't it strange that Congress keeps mum about Modi's scam for so many years?
When CAG started its audit, Modi government perhaps got scared. So, they recommended to the Central Government on 18 Aug 2010 to cancel the agreement with Geo Global. Interestingly, despite tens of letters and reminders to the central Government, UPA government is not giving permission to cancel the agreement with Geo Global".
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Kejriwal goes after Narendra Modi, Congress
Continuing his accusations against Modi, Kejriwal pointed out that the Gujarat CM had allotted prime properties to legislators from both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the opposition Congress in Gandhinagar.
When the Gujarat high court slammed the state government for this, Modi promptly allotted properties to HC judges, effectively silencing them.
The press statement says, "Gujarat Government has been allotting plots of land to its MPs and MLAs in prime areas of Gandhinagar. The plots have been allotted at highly concessional rates of Rs 45 per sq mtr. The plots were allotted so that the MPs and MLAs could construct their houses on these plots. But most of them have sold these plots at much higher rates.
Why did the Congress, which is the Opposition Party, not raise its voice against this scheme? Because MPs and MLAs from Congress also have got plots and they have also benefitted from this scheme.
This matter was challenged in Gujarat High Court. Gujarat High Court stayed the sale of these plots. In order to keep the judges also happy, Modi gave concessional plots to all the sitting, retired and promoted judges of Gujarat High Court in April 2010. Barring a few judges, all the other judges accepted this Modi's offer. Since then, this petition has not been heard by Gujarat High Court. The MPs and MLAs are openly selling their plots despite Gujarat High Court ban on sale".
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Kejriwal goes after Narendra Modi, Congress
Photographs: Reuben N V/Rediff.com
The Aam Admi Party also suggested that the Modi government chose to buy electricity from the Adani Group at an inflated rate, even when it had the choice of purchasing power from the state-owned Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation at a cheaper rate.
The party claimed that the Gujarat government also allotted land at throwaway prices to the Adani Group in Kutch region.
The press statement says, "In February 2007, Gujarat government entered into two agreements with Adanis to supply electricity at Rs 2.35 and Rs 2.89 per unit respectively.
Interestingly, two months before this, Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation, which is Gujarat Government PSU, had offered to the Gujarat Government to supply electricity at the rate of Rs 2.25 per unit. This was much cheaper than what Adanis were offering. GMDC had its own coal blocks and it had offered these coal blocks to KSK Energy Ventures Ltd, who in turn agreed to supply electricity cheaper at Rs 2.25 per unit.
Rather than accept GMDC's offer to supply cheaper electricity, Modi government decided to purchase electricity at much higher rates from Adanis. Why did Modi do that?".
It adds, "Modi has allotted 14306 acres (roughly 5.67 crore sq meters) of land to Adanis in Kutch area itself. This land has been transferred to them at rates ranging from Re 1 per sq meter to Rs 32 per sq meter for SEZ. In fact, most of the land has been allotted at less than Rs 10 per sq meter. Most of the land is allotted in Mundhra village, where the market rate is Rs 200 to Rs 315 per sq meter for industrial use and Rs 1000 to Rs 1575 per sq meter for commercial use."
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