Akhilesh takes on Yogi govt over UPPCL PF scam, questions investment in DHFL

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday hit out at the BJP government over the alleged provident fund (PF) scam in Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL).

Yadav said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath led corrupt BJP government was looking for excuses to divert the public attention and was engaging in vendetta politics by levelling baseless accusations at the previous state government.

"The UP Power Minister, who took Rs 20 crore donation from the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL), would (he) please tell what is his relationship with the company," Yadav asked in a press statement issued on Sunday evening.

Lambasting the BJP government for claiming to be a clean one, the SP chief said: "Gradually, the layers of corruption in their governments were unravelling."

"The BJP government has to tell us about its intentions on investing the employees' hard-earned money in the company that was already a defaulter," he said.

Yadav said the BJP government tried to find out scams in previous government's projects and schemes.

"But as they failed in their attempts to find any discrepancy, they have now resorted to mudslinging to prevent itself from getting exposed," he said.

Questioning the government's credibility, the SP chief said: "It is questionable why the BJP government kept the scam under wrap for 2.5 years. After being exposed, the government should let the scam be investigated. If the government had said the matter would be probed by the CBI, then why are they bringing the EOW into it."

Two officers were arrested in a case related to the alleged investment of over Rs 2,600 crore of UPPCL employees' PF money into the scam-hit DHFL.Praveen Kumar Gupta, who was the secretary of the Uttar Pradesh State Power Employees Trust and the Provident Fund Trust of the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation in 2016, and then Director, Finance, Sudhanshu Dwivedi, were arrested after an FIR was lodged against them at Hazratganj Police station here.The FIR was registered against the officers on the directions of Chief Minister Adityanath on Saturday, a government spokesperson had said in a statement.