Panama Papers verdict: Rahul Gandhi demands Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh to quit like Nawaz Sharif

Jagdalpur: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday demanded the resignation of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh over the Panama Papers issue, citing the case of Nawaz Sharif who quit as Pakistani prime minister. Gandhi alleged, “Sharif resigned after his and his family’s name figured in the Panama Papers scandal but chief minister Raman Singh’s family is also facing allegations in the Panama Papers issue and he has not yet resigned.” [caption id=“attachment_3566725” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Rahul Gandhi. PTI[/caption] “It is because he belongs to the RSS and the BJP and they can indulge in corruption,” he said wryly. Last year, the Congress had alleged Singh’s son Abhishek held offshore assets as per the Panama Papers leak. The Panama Papers are leaked documents of about 1.15 crore files containing details of about 2.15 lakh bank accounts. Both the chief minister and his son, the Lok Sabha MP from Rajnandgaon, had rubbished the allegations. The chief minister had described the charges as “baseless and unfounded”. Gandhi, on a two-day tour to the state, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of overlooking the corruption of the BJP chief ministers. “Modiji talks about fighting corruption, but he can’t see the corruption of the Chhattisgarh chief minister. The Rajasthan chief minister, too, has been linked to corruption, but Modiji is not speaking about it,” the Congress leader alleged. He was addressing a rally in Markel, a tribal village near here in Bastar district. The rally was organised to oppose the proposed disinvestment of the NMDC’s steel plant in Nagarnar area. The plant in Markel is under construction. “For the first time in the country, I have seen that a steel plant, which is still being set up, is being privatised. People from the RSS and the BJP don’t want development of tribals,” he alleged. “They want you to become slaves of rich people in big cities,” claimed the 47-year-old Amethi MP, addressing the gathering which mostly comprised adivasis. Gandhi alleged that land and forests belonging to tribals are being snatched and given to industrialists. In 2004, Tata Steel proposed to set up a plant in Bastar for which people gave their land but later the company scrapped its plan. The acquired land was not given back to owners, the Congress leader alleged.