The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement, wherein he had said that neither he nor his ministers would promote corruption in any way, has proved to be a sham over the charges levelled against Maharashtra Women and Child Welfare Minister Pankaja Munde and her state colleague Vinod Tawde.
"The second year of the Modi government has had a very bad start. They have been getting into lot of controversy over their ministers, be it Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Smriti Irani and now over the issue of corruption in Maharashtra. Modi's statement 'Na Khaayenge, na Khaane denge' has proved to be a lie," said senior NCP leader Tariq Anwar.
Munde, who is scheduled to hold a press conference to clarify her stand on the charges of corruption levelled at her, had earlier dismissed the allegations, maintaining that she has not violated any rules.
According to reports, all government procurements over Rs three lakh are to be made through e-tenders. However, the Maharashtra Women and Children Development Ministry cleared the overcharged purchase orders for anganwadi schools without inviting tenders.
The incident came to light after the Ahmednagar Zilla Parishad president wrote to Munde, complaining about the quality of food (chikki) distributed to tribal students under the Integrated Child Development Services.