Madhya Pradesh Assembly: Congress MPs allege BJP govt of corruption in Kumbh mela

Bhopal: Congress MLAs created ruckus in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly today demanding discussion on their adjournment notice on the alleged corruption in the month-long Simhastha-Kumbh mela held in Ujjain this year following which the House was adjourned till 3 PM. The Congress members including, acting Leader of Opposition Bala Bachchan and others, had given a notice for discussion on the alleged Simhastha scam and demanded constitution of a joint committee of MLAs to probe it. Congress MLA Jitu Patwari raised the issue during the Question Hour and continued with their protest in Zero Hour also. The party legislators rushed to the well of the House and raised slogans against the government and Speaker Sitasaran Sharma on the issue. They alleged that the government has provided different figures related to budgetary allocation and expenditure on Simhastha and it smacks of corruption. Patwari said the previous session of the Assembly was told on July 19 this year, that the total budgetary allocation for Simhastha was Rs 2,771.65 crore whereas the total amount spent was Rs 2,000.93 crore. [caption id=“attachment_3146600” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image, Kumbh Mela. PTI[/caption] “However, in reply to my today’s question on the same issue, the House was told that the budgetary allocation for Simhastha was Rs 2,344.28 crore, while the expendture was Rs 2,150.63 crore,” he said. “This means there is a difference of Rs 427.37 crore in the budgetary allocation and Rs 149.7 crore in expenditure,” Patwari said and demanded a discussion on the issue. To this, the state Home Minister and the in-charge minister for Simhasta, Bhupendra Singh said if the Opposition has any evidence regarding corruption in Simhastha, it should table it in the House, instead of creating ruckus. The Urban Administration and Development Minister Maya Singh said all information related to Simhastha was already given to members. “It (Simhastha) had been organised in such a good manner that it was lauded by the people at national and international level,” she said. However, Patwari alleged that even the government has given different figures in Parliament on the issue and insisted that a discussion should take place on the matter. When the Speaker did not budge and asked them to come to his chamber to discuss the matter, Congress members rushed to the well of the House raising slogans against the government and the chair. Amid uproar, the Speaker first adjourned the House for 10 minutes and later when the same situation prevailed during the Zero Hour, the chair adjourned it till 3 PM.