Alleging financial irregularities in the disbursement of a tender for the operation of a public grievance redressal campaign by the West Bengal government, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Friday said that it was case of serious fraud. The matter should be investigated by central investigation agencies, he added.
The State’s Personnel & Administrative Reform Department has recently launched a campaign named Sorasori Mukyamantri (Directly to the Chief Minister). According to the BJP leader, an earlier tender by the State’s Information and Technology Department for the same purpose was cancelled after a company was selected in the bidding.
“The Chief Minister got the earlier tender process cancelled because she wanted that the order had to be placed to a firm of her choice. That’s why she took the matters in her direct control this time,” Mr. Adhikari alleged, while speaking to journalists at the State Assembly.
‘Unethical and corrupt’
Mr. Adhikari said that the company had received an order for ₹152 crore and “an award made indirectly to the political consultancy firm linked with the ruling party of the State”. He added that the help line number used in the State government’s Sorasori Mukyamantri campaign had earlier been used by the I-PAC consultancy during the Trinamool Congress’ Didi Ke Bolo (Say it to Didi) campaign.
The Leader of Opposition also wrote to the Governor, urging him to take steps to unearth the “unethical and corrupt deals made by the State government“ in the tendering process.
While the State government did not respond to the allegations, Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said that there were no irregularities in the tendering process. The State government and the ruling party are already grappling with allegations of widespread corruption in the school job recruitment scam. However, the allegation by the Mr. Adhikari involves the office of the Chief Minister and a grievance redressal mechanism involving her name. The Didi Ke Bolo campaign is believed to have worked well for the ruling party ahead of 2021 Assembly election.
‘Expired drug supply’
In another development, Governor C.V. Ananda Bose on Friday received a complaint that expired drugs are being supplied to the market in the State. He emphasised that strict action would be taken if the allegation was found to be true.
“It is a multi-crore business, old expired medicines are being marketed as new medicines,” the Governor said, adding that it was a “crime against humanity.”
