BJP MP sits on dharna outside police station demanding registration of corruption case against Rajasthan minister

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Kirodi Meena held a dharna in front of a police station here on Tuesday, demanding the registration of two cases in connection with alleged corruption in the Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) in Rajasthan.

Meena had on Monday alleged irregularities in the grant of tenders related to the Jal Jeevan Mission projects carried out by PHED.

“We are sitting on dharna demanding registration of FIRs... The police refused to register them,” Meena told reporters as he held a sit-in along with complainant T N Sharma at Ashok Nagar police station.

There was no immediate response from the police on the issue.

In one of the complaints, it is alleged that tenders of Rs 900 crore were issued to two firms on the basis of fake experience certificates in 48 projects of Jal Jeevan Mission.

Sharma named two senior officials in one complaint, while in the second, he named Rajasthan PHED Minister Mahesh Joshi along with others.

Joshi, however, rejected allegations against him saying that a minister does not have a role in the tendering process.

“The allegations against me are totally baseless. It has become the habit of Kirodi Meena to make allegations. If he has evidence, he should give it to the chief minister or to anyone he wants,” Joshi said.

“The minister has no role in the tendering process so therefore the allegations of Meena against me are baseless,” he said Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore also reached the police station and demanded that the FIRs be registered on the complaints.

“I spoke to police officers but the FIR is not being registered. This has exposed the real face of the government.

''On one hand, the chief minister says that the government follows a policy of zero tolerance against corruption and on the other hand, the police are not ready to register the FIR,” the BJP leader said.