BJP says Maharashtra irrigation tender process needs to be transparent

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday described the Maharashtra irrigation scam as the biggest loot of the state and asserted that the process of providing tenders to contractors should be kept transparent and completed within the stipulated time frame.

"The irrigation scam has been the biggest loot in Maharashtra where after spending 70,000 crores not even one percent of land has increased in irrigation. There are dams that have broken, dams that have collapsed. Clearly it is the purgative of the state government to dismiss all those tenders, which had collusion between faulty contractors and corrupt ministers of the Conress-NCP government. The tender process need to be transparent, the tenders needs be completed in stipulated time," BJP leader Shaina NC told ANI.

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday cancelled 94 contracts pertaining to 14 irrigation projects in the state that were initiated during the Congress-NCP regime. These include as many as 300 projects, which are being investigated by Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on charges of corruption.

Former deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar has come under scrutiny.

Out of the 94 projects 12 projects are of Konkan region, 81 of Gosikhurd and 94 projects of Nasik. The total amount allotted for this project was Rs. 6,000 crore.