Harish Rawat denies state-liquor mafia nexus, calls BJP desperate

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat on Wednesday, at a hurriedly convened press conference in Dehradun, refuted corruption charges levelled against him by Union Minister for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman through a sting video, linking his government with the liquor mafia. [caption id=“attachment_2357446” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat. PTI[/caption] “Nobody has authenticated voice or the video. The details of timing, location of the recording is not authenticated. BJP should have also revealed where and when have they recorded the video,” Rawat said at the press conference. “BJP’s allegation is wrong that I have taken away business from a public sector enterprise and handed it over to a private firm,” he said. Reacting informally hours before the formal press conference, according to CNN-IBN, Rawat said, “First verify the authenticity of the CD. There is no question of any investigation unless there is any clue as no private person is involved in liquor licensing system. There is a well established lottery system for liquor license distributions. There is no private person involved in it. I do not know from where this allegation has come. BJP is desperate and they can go to any extent. I have not seen the original video.” Earlier on Wednesday, Union Minister Sitharaman released a sting video that purportedly showed Rawat’s alleged nexus with the state’s liquor mafia. In the video, Rawat’s personal secretary Mohammad Shahid is seen allegedly asking for bribes from liquor barons. “Only transportation would happen through Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam, not distribution. And private agencies chosen by Chief Minister Rawat and Shahid were brought on board and in turn passed liquor to retail agencies. There was an understanding of several hundred crores. The chief minister’s personal secretary negotiates with these people saying how much are you giving now and the payment would be made in Delhi or Dehradun - 25 percent now, 75 percent later. Mohammad Shahid himself is seen in this sting talking to middlemen about how much would be given to him,” the Union minister told reporters at a press conference at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi. Sitharaman said Shahid has long been the “handpicked” associate of Rawat and had served the Congress leader in the Central government earlier too. Shahid is also the excise secretary in the state. “Instead of focusing on providing relief to Uttarakhand for which he was sent replacing Vijay Bahuguna, Rawat is focusing on making money by tweaking the liquor policy. We demand that the Congress party remove him instantly. He must resign,” she told reporters. The Uttarakhand chief minister is likely to file an FIR in this regard. Backing his party colleague, former chief minister and Congress leader Vijai Bahuguna said, “The authenticity of video should be investigated. The officer in video should be removed. Calling somebody guilty on behalf of one video would not be fair. I’m sure Harish Rawat will take appropriate action.” Blame games and mudslinging between the Congress and the BJP have been rising of late as the former is trying to corner the later over an array of issues including External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s alleged favour to fugitive former IPL chairman Lalit Modi and the controversial Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh. The Congress is also demanding the resignation of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The liquor saga in Utttarakhand may be seen as a spillover as the BJP is trying to hit back at the Congress as the party has stalled functioning of Parliament in the ongoing Monsoon Session.

With PTI inputs