Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Kejriwal takes on Ambanis, Maharashtra govt
BackBack

Kejriwal takes on Ambanis, Maharashtra govt

Kejriwal releases black paper on irrigation scam in Maharashtra

Kejriwal made the allegations at a rally on Sunday in Roha town in Raigad district, around 150 km from Mumbai enroute to Goa. Photo: Ramesh Pathania (Ramesh Pathania )Premium
Kejriwal made the allegations at a rally on Sunday in Roha town in Raigad district, around 150 km from Mumbai enroute to Goa. Photo: Ramesh Pathania
(Ramesh Pathania )

Roha (Maharashtra): Activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday pursued his charge of unaccounted money against the Ambani brothers, saying they had settled the case with the Indian government by paying taxes on the hidden wealth.

Kejriwal made the allegations against the Ambanis at a rally on Sunday in Roha town in Raigad district, around 150 km from Mumbai enroute to Goa.

A spokesperson for Anil Ambani’s Reliance Group declined to comment on the issue, saying he was not aware of Kejriwal’s latest charges. Mint could not reach the spokesperson for Mukesh Ambani, promoter of Reliance Industries Ltd, on Sunday evening. Both Reliance Industries and and Reliance Group had denied Kejriwal’s earlier charges.

Last month, ahead of launching his political party, Kejriwal claimed that several leading Indian businessmen including the Ambani brothers had stashed crores of unaccounted money with Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Ltd in Geneva, Switzerland.

HSBC had refused to comment on “the specific details of the allegations" and said the bank “takes compliance with the law, wherever it operates, very seriously."

On Sunday, Kejriwal claimed he was in possession of the account numbers of both Mukesh and Anil Ambani and challenged them to file a defamation case against him if they thought he was “running a malicious campaign against them."

Mint could not confirm independently the veracity of the allegations made by Kejriwal.

Kejriwal also released what he called a black paper on the irrigation scam in Maharashtra, declaring that the white paper brought out by the state government was only meant to give a clean chit to former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and bring back him into the state cabinet.

Pawar, who held the water resource portfolio from 2001 to 2010, resigned from the cabinet in September on allegations of corruption involving the irrigation projects.

Kejriwal chose Roha to release the so-called black paper as it is the home town of Maharashtra’s present water resource minister Sunil Tatkare.

After the government released its white paper on the matter on Thursday, Nawab Malik, spokesperson of the Nationalist Congress Party to which Pawar belongs, had said the white paper was not an inquiry report and was a “mere statement of facts regarding various irrigation projects in the state."

The black paper released by Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party sought to highlight discrepancies in irrigation data from two different state government departments. He said that while according to the agricultural department additional land of 2.95 million hectares in the state had come under irrigation between 2000 and 2010, the water resource department claimed 4.48 million lands had come under irrigation.

He also pointed out that the Maharashtra government has admitted in its white paper that it spent around 21 lakh to bring one hectare of land under irrigation, whereas under the central water resource commission’s norms 1.5-2.5 lakh is sufficient for the purpose.

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Politics News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.
More Less
Published: 02 Dec 2012, 11:09 PM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App