Kæmpelandets førende korruptionsbekæmper anklager den 55-årige politiker og forretningsmand for at “stjæle vand, el og jord fra fattige bønder” – men han afviser alle anklager i skandalen om et stort kunstvandingsprojekt.
The chief of India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has denied allegations of involvement in a massive corruption scandal, BBC online reports Thursday.
Nitin Gadkari said he was ready for an investigation into allegations made by anti-corruption campaigners that he was involved in an irrigation scam worth millions of dollars.
He has been accused of stealing “the water, power and land of poor farmers”.
India’s top anti-corruption campaigner Arvind Kejriwal alleged Wednesday that the government in Maharashtra state – run by a coalition of the Congress party and Nationalist Congress Party – bent rules to give away land owned by farmers to Mr Gadkari, who is also a businessman.
He alleged that the land left after building a dam should have been returned to the farmers from whom it was bought, but instead it was sold cheaply to Mr Gadkari. Water from the dam was also diverted to factories in the area, instead of being given to the farms.
He alleged that Mr Gadkari had “remained silent” in the irrigation scandal – which recently led to the resignation of former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar – because Mr Pawar had helped him acquire land for irrigation projects.
Mr Gadkari, appointed leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in December 2009, said the allegations of “land grabbing are absurd”.
“Land has been given on lease to a charitable trust which functions like a cooperative. It is not owned by me,” Mr Gadkari said.
