BJS alleges minister using farmland to benefit kin

Bhopal, Dec 5 (UNI) Bharatiya Jan Shakti (BJS) General Secretary and former Union minister Prahlad Patel today alleged that Madhya Pradesh Agriculture Minister Chaudhary Chandrabhan Singh was converting farmland into a residential area to benefit his own family.

''I urge the Principal Secretary (Environment and Housing) to intervene. About 40 acres in Chhindwara district is being thus converted. A similar attempt is being made by a former Congress leader Shailendra Singh in Balaghat,'' he told reporters here.

In a letter to the bureaucrat, Mr Patel urged intervention into the ''improper'' activity by the minister.

''The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's ministers and ex-ministers are encouraging the land mafia under the garb of changes in land use,'' he alleged.

Without naming Minister of State for Home Nagendra Singh, the BJS leader said that the minister's silence, over a truckload of marijuana and his relatives' vehicle being seized in Seoni district, was condemnable.

''The minister's nephew was taken into custody for interrogation but was freed due to political pressure,'' Mr Patel added.

Despite several attempts, the minister duo could not be reached for their reactions.

''A three-phase agitation will be launched by the BJS in this state next month against surcharge on power bills and their simplification. The exact date will be announced in a fortnight,'' Mr Patel said.

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