Guj Cong leader to sit on 3-day fast over 'groundnut scam'

Gujarat Congress leader Paresh Dhanani today said he would sit on a three-day fast here from tomorrow to highlight his party's demand for a judicial probe into the alleged groundnut scam in the state.

Dhanani said he would launch the fast tomorrow morning outside the Sabarmati Ashram here to press for the demand for a judicial inquiry into the scam, which his party has alleged was worth Rs 4,000 crore.

The opposition party has also alleged that BJP leaders were involved in the scam.

"The government has not accepted our demand for a judicial inquiry under a sitting high court judge into Rs 4,000-crore groundnut scam, which shows the complicity of the ruling BJP into the scam," Dhanani, leader of the Congress legislature party, told reporters here today.

"As part of our second round of the fight, I will sit on a three-day symbolic fast beginning tomorrow outside Gandhi Ashram here," he said.

He alleged that the groundnuts procured by the state government were mixed with soil and pebbles before being stored in 279 godowns.

"Since the last six months, we have been demanding a judicial probe into the matter and have written to the chief minister and governor regarding this, but no action has been taken. We want to know who have benefited from the scam. The BJP government is under suspicion," he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel hit back saying the charges were baseless as the government had taken a swift action in the case in which soil and pebbles were found stored in sacks of groundnuts at a warehouse at Gondal in Rajkot district.

"People know how our administration and police acted swiftly and arrested 30 persons in this connection. Those who are responsible are being arrested and the investigation is on," he said.

Nearly 30,000 sacks of groundnuts (each weighing 35 kg) were found mixed with sand and stones. They were kept at a private godown taken on rent by the National Agriculture Co-operative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED), which has procured groundnut on behalf of Gujarat government, at Pedhla town in Jetpur taluka of Rajkot district.

The NAFED had purchased the groundnuts from farmers under the minimum support price (MSP) scheme.

The opposition Congress has alleged large-scale corruption in procurement of groundnuts in the state and demanded a judicial probe into the matter.