CAG has found corruption in Metro Bhavan tender process, says Congress

MUMBAI: The Congress on Thursday claimed the CAG has found its allegation of corruption in the tender process of Rs 1,000- crore worth Metro Bhavan project as "correct" and called for staying the work. The party, now a constituent of the Shiv Sena-led government in Maharashtra, accused the previous Devendra Fadnavis government of involvement in corruption. "The complaint filed by the Congress with the CAG against the corruption in the tender process of the Metro Bhavan at Aarey Colony has been found to be correct, once again exposing the deep-rooted tender management racket in the Fadnavis government," a statement quoted Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant as saying here.Sawant accused the previous Fadnavis government of running a tender management "racket" by allegedly ignoring, bending and even systematically framing new rules so that tenders of major projects can be allotted to a select few contractors. "The corruption in contracts of the Rs 14,000 crore of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in Navi Mumbai and the Metro Bhavan were financially linked," he said. Sawant said as part of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, the CIDCO was to build 89,771 houses in Navi Mumbai. The Rs 14,000-crore project was split into four different contracts and clauses of the tenders were framed such that select four players bagged the contract. "A fifth company was asked to fill the tender to show there was a proper competition among the bidders after the Congress party filed RTI raising some queries," Sawant said.