Digvijaya demands Gadkari’s sacking

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh demanded the sacking of Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday, accusing him of awarding the ` 10,500crore Zoji La tunnel contract to a single bidder in violation of guidelines.

Addressing a press conference here, Singh demanded that a parliamentary panel scrutinise details of the project that was awarded to a private firm and then scrapped after he raised the issue in January.

The Congress leader had earlier alleged irregularities in the

CONG LEADER SAYS A CONTRACT HE RED-FLAGGED HAD BEEN CANCELLED, SUGGESTING IT WAS FRAUDULENT

contract awarded by the road transport and highways ministry. The Congress had then demanded Gadkari be sacked but the minister had rubbished the charges. Singh told reporters he had met the central vigilance commissioner (CVC) and was informed that the contract had been cancelled. “This means the allegations levelled by me were found to be correct by the CVC and the PM.”

He also levelled allegations against the highways minister regarding the appointment of an officer on special duty (OSD) in his ministry. Alleging that the OSD was Gadkari’s classmate, Singh alleged his name had come up in a corruption case in Nagpur and he was being shielded by the Maharashtra government.

Gadkari’s office denied the claim that the highways ministry had cancelled the contract at the insistence of the CVC. “Mr Gadkari has categorically denied that the contract was cancelled because of CVC’s intervention. The allegations are factually incorrect and politically motivated,” it said.