Chhattisgarh: 'Chintamani Maharaj Comes Clean As He Joins BJP,' Alleges Congress

Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee Communication Department Chairman Sushil Anand Shukla on Monday alleged that former Congress MLA Chintamani Maharaj name finds no place in FIR in coal scam after he joined BJP.

Shukla releasing the documents said that in the preliminary report by 10th order, Enforcement Directorate (ED) mentions the name of the then Congress MLA from Samari, Chintamani Maharaj has been marked with claim for taking Rs 5 lakh. ED has also written to register a case against him.

He adds, Chintamani Maharaj's name is not there in the FIR lodged by ACB on January 17, 2024 on the basis of the letter from ED. Maharaj, has now joined BJP and is the BJP candidate from Surguja Lok Sabha constituency.

He alleged that ED had taken many actions during the Congress government with the aim of defaming the previous Congress government and Congress leaders.

ED investigated the so-called coal scam for three years and when it could not achieve anything, it wrote a letter to the State Anti-Corruption Bureau on January 11 asking it to register an FIR in the matter, he alleged.

In the letter, ED also gave detailed information about this so-called coal scam and also submitted the names of some people against whom FIR was asked to be registered. ED has also mentioned the amount of money allegedly received by the people whose names have been submitted, he pointed out.

When a case is registered against 35 people on the basis of a letter, then why was Chintamani Maharaj's name left out of the FIR, because he has joined BJP, he added.

He alleged that cases are filed against the leaders of opposition parties by forwarding it to ED, IT, CBI, pressure is created, they are sent to jail. As soon as that leader joins the BJP, all the proceedings against him are stopped.

There are many examples like Ajit Pawar, Hemant Biswa Sarma, Narayan Rane, Reddy brothers, Mukul Rai, Shuvendu Adhikari, Eknath Shinde, Ashok Chauhan, he said.

Shukla said conspiracies were hatched to trap the opponents through ED. Names were added and deleted to defame people based on their convenience and political conspiracies.

Chintamani Maharaj should tell the people of the state whether the serious allegation made by ED of taking Rs 5 lakh in the so-called coal scheme is true or false, he said.