Congress seeks BJP’s apology for false charge of corruption

Congress, which has been sharing power with Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress party (NCP) in Maharashtra, has hit back at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for alleging corruption in the reconstruction of Manora MLA Hostel in south Mumbai and sought an apology.

On May 7, BJP legislator Atul Bhatkalkar had written to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, alleging Rs 300 crore scam in the redevelopment of Manora MLA Hostel and said that the cost had increased by 66 per cent. Congress state spokesman Sachin Sawant, who released relevant documents, claimed that the central undertaking National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC) company, which had bagged the reconstruction contract of the hostel during the BJP-led government in the state, had decided the project cost. “Therefore, Bhatkhalkar and the BJP, who have been levelling corruption charges without knowing how the figure of Rs 900 crore was arrived at, must now offer an unconditional apology,” he said.

The decision to rebuild the Manora MLA Hostel was taken by the Devendra Fadnavis government and the work was given to NBCC by that dispensation, he said.

"NBCC had first stated the cost of the project at Rs 810 crore in the draft e-tender notice submitted to the legislature on February 28, 2020. But, in December that year, it increased the cost of the project to Rs 875.62 crore in their detailed estimate," he said.