BHOPAL: Congress created uproar in the state Assembly on the issue of expenses on the Simhastha fair, which ended six months ago.
MLA Jitu Patwari, talking about Simhastha expenses, claimed that the figures presented in the Lok Sabha and the assembly were different. He alleged that it clearly showed that the government was trying to cover up the corruption.
Patwari alleged that during the assembly session in July, it was informed that the budget allocation for Simhastha was Rs 2771 crore and Rs 2000 crore was spent. In the current assembly session, it was informed that Rs 2344 crore were allotted while Rs 2150 crore were spent. In reply to a question raised in Parliament, it was informed that Rs 4400 crore was spent on Simhastha.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in his Independence Day speech, had said that Rs 3377 crore were spent on Simhastha. Patwari said it should be clarified which of these figures is correct.
Congress demanded a special debate on Simhastha. When the Speaker turned down the demand, the Congress members entered the Well of the House and started raising slogans. The House was adjourned for some time.
Acting leader of opposition Bala Bachchan said corruption of crores of rupees took place in Simhastha, which the government is trying to hush up. MLA Ramnivas Rawat said assembly speaker should go by his conscience and allow debate on Simhastha in the House.
Minister for urban administration Maya Singh said some money was spent from departmental budgets too on Simhastha and as such variations in the figures of total expenses was possible. Simhastha in-charge minister Bhupendra Singh asked the opposition to produce evidence of corruption in Simhastha in the House. He said baseless allegations have been leveled by the opposition.