Congress charge against Rijiju baseless, then CVO political fixer: BJP

The BJP on Tuesday made light of corruption charge against Union Minister Kiren Rijiju vis-a-vis hydro electricity project in Arunachal Pradesh and questioned the credentials of the then Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) who brought the matter out.

“The Congress has made a wild allegation… The entire contract for the main project and for transportation of boulders were allotted when the Congress was in power,” Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson G.V.L. Narsimha Rao said.

Earlier, the Congress demanded the resignation of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Rijiju for his alleged involvement in a scam pertaining to the Kameng hydro electricity project, being executed by the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO).

Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, quoting the then Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) of Neepco, said the scam would be to the tune of Rs 450 crore and demanded a thorough investigation into it.

Giving details, Rao said in November 2015, villagers from the project area engaged by the contractor for transportation of boulders approached Rijiju, who is the local member of parliament, and submitted a memorandum for help to get their rightful dues for the work done by them.

Rao said as the local MP, Rijiju intervened “to redress people’s grievances purely on merit”, and forwarded the petition received from the affected villagers to the Ministry of Power.

“CVO Satish Verma, who has made these baseless allegations against Rijiju, has submitted these so-called vigilance reports after he was removed from the post under the orders of the Central Vigilance Commission for misdemeanour and dereliction of duty,” Rao said.

“Verma has a dubious track record and continues to work as a political fixer for the Congress,” the BJP leader alleged.

The Congress claimed fake and inflated bills were submitted by the contractors for transportation of rocks for the construction of dams and the methodology brought out by the CVO was very clear.