C'garh: BJP accuses govt of corruption over Gandhi statue

The BJP on Friday created an uproar in the Chhattisgarh Assembly demanding a discussion over the alleged corruption in installing a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Mantralaya (secretariat office) in Nava Raipur.

Their demand was turned down by the Chair, resulting in a pandemonium and a brief adjournment.

BJP MLA Brijmohan Agrawal raised the issue of alleged irregularity in installing the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the secretariat office premises.

Such an incident has taken place in the Mantralaya, and the government has left no stone unturned to insult the Father of the Nation, he claimed.

Instead of installing a new statue, the people concerned had allegedly placed an old one after repairing and painting it, he alleged.

Agrawal further said whenever a statue of any great personality is installed at the government level, there are several formalities along with rules and regulations that need to be complied with.

However, the desire for 'Gulabi Gandhi' (apparently referring to currency notes) was so strong that they couldn't even spare Gandhiji, the BJP legislator said.

Agrawal demanded a discussion on the issue by moving an adjournment motion notice.

Leader of Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik and other BJP MLAs alleged that the store purchase rules were allegedly flouted in the statue installation.

No bill was submitted in the name of the statue's sculptor, rather the recommendation was made for payment to employees of the culture department, they said.

The Opposition claimed that despite being aware of the entire issue, the state government had not taken action against anyone so far.

However, the adjournment motion moved by the BJP legislators was rejected by JCC (J) MLA Dharamjit Singh, who was on the Chair.

This led to a pandemonium in the House and BJP legislators demanded a probe into it by constituting a committee of the House.

The House proceedings were adjourned for five minutes, after which the business continued.

Notably, the statue was unveiled in Mantralaya on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary on October 2 last year.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)