No irregularities in award of Shivaji memorial contract: Mete

Vinayak Mete, chairman of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial Committee, on Wednesday termed "false and baseless" the Opposition's charge of irregularities in the award of the contract for the project coming up in the Arabian Sea.

Mete also said allegations levelled by the Congress and the NCP marked their "intellectual bankruptcy and frustration".

He maintained the contract was awarded as per norms.

Mete also stressed the height of the memorial was increased by the government from 182 metre to 212 metre as he sought to counter the allegation that the height of the statue was brought down.

The Congress and NCP on Tuesday demanded a judicial probe into the tendering process for the construction of the memorial.

"The Congress and NCP are pained to see we are carrying out the memorial work without corruption of even five paisa. Hence, the false and baseless allegations. This shows their intellectual bankruptcy," Mete said in a statement.

He accused NCP's Nawab Malik and Congress's Sachin Sawant of misleading people by raising allegations of irregularities in the tendering process of the project.

"They have made these allegations out of desperation," Mete said.