Congress corners Raje, demands probe into 'mining' scam in Rajasthan

A delegation of the Congress Party on Wednesday met the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), demanding a thorough probe into "arbitrary" allocation of as many as 643 mines by the Rajasthan Government which caused a huge loss to the state exchequer.

Led by former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and Congress Member of Parliament from Ajmer Sachin Pilot, the delegation members raised slogans against incumbent Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, while demanding her removal by the BJP central leadership.

"We want the CAG and the Central Vigilance Commission to initiate probes into the arbitrary allocation of one-lakh-bigha mines by the Vasundhara Raje government. Even as the Central Government has directed all the states to allocate mines through auctioning, the state government allocated as many as 653 mines arbitrarily at will, which is not just a gross violation of the laws, but also flouts the standard established by the Supreme Court in this regard," Pilot told the media after the meeting.

"The overall cost of the mineral to be extracted will be around Rs. two lakh crore and had these mines been allocated through auctioning, the state exchequer would have got at least a profit of Rs. 45, 000 crores. The political leadership of the state is responsible for this," he added.

Pilot alleged that this has yet again exposed the double standards of the BJP.

"The BJP will have to shed its "double standards" because it was voted to power at the Centre after its promise to fight corruption. However, on the contrary, its ministers and chief ministers are indulging in corruption and the central leadership are looking as a mute spectator," he added.