Maha CM pressurising ACB to go soft against ministers: Cong

Mumbai, Aug 13: Congress has accused the Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) of showing lackadaisical attitude towards the complaints filed by the party against "tainted" ministers in the BJP-led Maharashtra government.

Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant, while speaking to reporters after meeting the ACB chief Vivek Phansalkar here, said the Bureau was "discreetly" helping these ministers.

"ACB seems to have become a pawn working under the directions of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who is going out of his way to ensure that corrupt practises of his ministers remain under the wraps and image of corruption-free government can be shown off. This won't go on for very long," Sawant said.

The Congress delegation submitted "solid evidence" against ministers but time is being bought under the garb of inquiry to ensure there are no repercussions during the coming Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections, he said.

"We had submitted proofs against (Rural Development Minister) Pankaja Munde, involved in the 'chikki' scam, a year back, but no action has been taken. Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan publicly said that some contractors tried to give him a bribe of Rs 100 crore, yet the ACB did not take cognisance of it and the guilty are roaming freely," he said.

He added that the Congress delegation also demanded that call records of (former minister) Eknath Khadse's alleged PA Gajanan Patil be made public, so that the "truth" could be brought out.

Patil has faced allegations of seeking bribes. Sawant claimed that ACB chief conceded lapses on the part of the agency, and assured that inquiry would be completed and action will be taken soon.

PTI