Raman dubs charges against son as 'politically motivated'

Rejecting Congress's allegations against his son and BJP MP Abhishek Singh that he held offshore assets, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh today dubbed such charges as "politically motivated".
"Four months ago the same allegation was levelled (against Abhishek Singh) and that time also he had refuted it," he told reporters here to a query over allegations of his son holding offshore assets.
The Chief Minister was interactingwithmedia persons at Swami Vivekanand Airport here after returning from his week-long China tour.
"Abhishek has rejected the allegation and clarified that neither he has offshore accounts nor any (foreign) investment. These charges are nothing but politically motivated," Singh said.

Last week, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had alleged at a press conference in Delhi that as per an investigation by International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) a year ago, Abhishek Singh was holding offshore assets, a charge denied by the Lok Sabha MP from Rajnandgaon.
Meanwhile, terming his China visit as successful, the Chief Minister said his delegation visited different parts of the neighbouring country from April 6-12, during which several MoUs were signed in different sectors which would attract an investment of around Rs 26,000crorein the state.

Singh also said that on the occasion of Dr B R Ambedkar's 125th birth anniversary tomorrow, he will inaugurate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Gram UdayseBharat Uday Campaign' from Rajnandgaon and subsequently, a mega 'Gram Suraaj Abhiyan' will also be carried out in the state.

During the 'GramSuraajAbhiyan' and the PM's village self governance campaign, focuswill be on development while dealing with water scarcity will be another major issue, he said.
Singh is also credited with introducing a transparent
and efficient PDS system which is being followed by other states. Besides, he succeeded in enacting Chhattisgarh Food Security Act, much before the National Food Security Act.
Along with appreciation, his government also faced allegations of corruption.
When the alleged multi-crore scam in the state's civil supply corporation was unearthed last year, over a dozen officials and employees were booked in this connection.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) is likely to submit a charge sheet against two IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officers in connection with the scam.

Even the opposition tried to embroil the Chief Minister and his family in the scam.
The state government also faced criticism over death of women after sterilisation surgery at government-held camps in Bilaspur in 2014,the incident ofunnecessary hysterectomies by doctors to allegedly make insurance claims, botched cataract surgeries, and alleged killing innocent tribals in the name of Naxal encounters.
Left Wing Extremism has been another major issue with which the state has been struggling since past several years.
The chief minister says thatthe way Maoist problem has been eliminated from Sarguja (north Chhattisgarh bordering Jharkhand and Odisha), Bastar will also soon get out of the clutches of Naxalism.

Meanwhile, the main opposition Congresshas put forth 13 questions on different issues, including promises made to farmers by BJPahead of the last Assembly polls, alleged increasing graph of crime against women and scams, before Chief Minister Raman Singh on completion of 13 years of his government, challenging him to come up for a debate over it.
"Chhattisgarh was known as paddy bowl, but according to the statistics of last few years, four farmers have committed suicide daily, on an average, in the state," state Congress president Bhupesh Baghel said.
"BJP has cheated farmers by not providing them bonus of Rs 300 and minimum support price of Rs 2,100 for each quintal of paddy, as promised them during the last Assembly polls," Baghel alleged.

"Development can't be achieved just by constructing some buildings and roads. The statistics reveal the ground realty that how common man's life has became difficult in the past 13 years of BJP government," he further said.