BJP MP's company got Rs 1,350cr dam deals illegally

October 1, 2012
Ajay-Sancheti

Mumbai, October 1: A non-existing company owned by BJP Rajya Sabha MP Ajay Sancheti bagged irrigation projects worth Rs 1,350 crore in Maharashtra in 2007-08.

The firm, Shakti Kumar M Sancheti Ltd, was renamed SMS Infrastructure in November 2005. Yet, Sancheti was awarded contracts by the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC) under the name of the old company. "Once the name of a company is changed, the old name ceases to exist and the new name comes into existence. The Sancheti group used the old name as well as the new name concurrently to obtain more contracts than permitted,'' said officials. Government sources said VIDC's norms permitted a maximum of three contracts to a single contractor. Its tender condition clearly stipulated that in case of violation, the contractor would be blacklisted.

Sancheti is a close aide of BJP president Nitin Gadkari and his family has RSS links for the last three generations. His uncle, Chainsukh Sancheti, is the BJP MLA from Buldhana district.

Documents accessed by TOI reveal that the now defunct firm (Shakti Kumar) went on to bag four contracts; two in Gosikhurd in Bhandara district, one in Amravati district and another in Yavatmal district collectively worth Rs 1,350 crore. (VIDC later cancelled one of the tenders because it was awarded at an exorbitant rate.)

Simultaneously, SMS Infrastructure also procured projects worth an additional Rs 389 crore between 2006 and 2009.

Sancheti was not available for comment despite several attempts to contact him.

MPs protest 250% dam cost escalation

In November 2011, two MPs wrote to Union water resources minister Pawan Kumar Bansal about the unusual increase in the cost of the Purna barrage-2 (Ner Dhamana) irrigation project. The work was awarded to Sancheti. BJP's Haribhau Jawale and Shiv Sena's Nandrao Adul complained that its cost had shot up from Rs 182 crore to Rs 638 crore. "The design finalization was done way ahead after the tender was awarded. This resulted in excess expenditure by more than three times,'' said Jawale's letter. He further said that the original 2008 administrative approval was obtained without following due procedure. "If tender had been awarded post-finalization of design, it would have saved a lot of money and resources. As a result, cost of irrigating the land is estimated at Rs 9.19 lakh a hectare whereas the normal cost is around Rs 2 lakh a hectare,'' he added. The Centre had imposed a condition that the project be completed within the sanctioned amount. "However, reality seems to be far different as the project cost is revised drastically. Definitely, there seems to major manipulation causing undue benefit to certain vested interests,'' said Jawale. He urged the minister not to sanction the revised estimate as it was an "unrealistic'' one.


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News Network
February 21,2020

Nagpur, Feb 21: Former Maharashtra chief minister and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis on Friday condemned AIMIM leader Waris Pathan's reported remarks that 15 crore Muslims are more than a match for the country's 100 crore Hindus, and asked the latter not to mistake the majority community's tolerance for weakness.

Pathan has been widely condemned for reportedly stating that "15 crore hain lekin 100 crore pe bhari hain".

He purportedly made these comments while addressing an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act rally in Kalaburagi in north Karnataka on February 16. The AIMIM leader has claimed he was quoted out of context.

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, Fadnavis demanded an apology from Pathan and asked the Uddhav Thackeray government to take action.

"We condemn the statement made by Waris Pathan and demand an apology. In case he does not apologise, the state government must take action against him," he said.

Fadnavis said Pathan should understand that minorities were safe and enjoyed full freedom in India because 100 crore Hindus live in the country.

He said no one would dare utter such a statement in a Muslim-majority nation, adding that the "Hindu community is tolerant but its tolerance should not be mistaken for weakness".

"Pathan should apologise to the nation and the Hindu community," he said.

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News Network
June 27,2020

New Delhi, Jun 27: Fuel prices were hiked by the oil marketing companies for the 21st day in a row on Saturday. Petrol and diesel will now cost Rs 80.38/litre and Rs 80.40/litre respectively in the national capital.

The price of petrol is increased by Rs 0.25 per litre while that of diesel by Rs 0.21 per litre.
Rates differ from state to state depending on the incidence of value-added tax (VAT).

Notably, oil marketing companies have been adjusting retail rates in line with costs after an 82-day break from rate revision amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. These firms on June 7 restarted revising prices in line with costs.

The Congress party had called the increase in the price of petrol and diesel 'unjust', 'thoughtless' and demanded from the Central government to roll back increase with immediate effect and pass on the benefit of low oil prices directly to the citizens of this country.
In an official statement, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) had said that no government should levy and impose such unacceptable strain on its people.

Before the nation entered the lockdown, the average price of petrol and diesel in Delhi was Rs 69.60 per litre and Rs 62.30 per litre respectively.

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News Network
March 5,2020

New Delhi, Mar 5: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan assuring that the government has the coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Titanic captain telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Thursday.

Gandhi's remarks came after Vardhan's assurance in Parliament that the government is taking all necessary measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) in India.

“The health minister saying that the Indian government has the coronavirus crisis under control, is like the Captain of the Titanic telling passengers not to panic as his ship was unsinkable,” Gandhi said in a tweet.

“It's time the government made public an action plan backed by solid resources to tackle this crisis,” he said.

RMS Titanic was a British passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York.

Gandhi has been raising concerns over the coronavirus infection since long. In a February 12 tweet, he had said coronavirus is an extremely serious threat to “our people and our economy”.

“My sense is the government is not taking this threat seriously. Timely action is critical,” he had said.

Earlier this week, Gandhi had hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the detection of fresh coronavirus cases in the country, saying he should quit wasting India's time “playing the clown” with his social media accounts when India is facing an emergency.

With the message of “Here's how it's done”, Gandhi had also tweeted a video of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong addressing Singaporeans on how to deal with the coronavirus.

The number of coronavirus cases in India is 29, including 16 Italians, the government had said on Wednesday, adding all international passengers will now be screened at airports, amid growing concern over the spread of the respiratory infection.

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