The NCP Thursday alleged conflict of interest in the appointment of a BJP MLA as CIDCO chairman claiming a firm reportedly linked to him was executing several projects for the state-run agency.
The opposition party said that it would move court if the appointment of Prashant Thakur, BJP MLA from Panvel, as City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) chairman was not cancelled.
"The firm he is director of, Thakur Brothers Infrastructure Private Limited, is executing Rs 900 crore worth contracts of the CIDCO. There is a conflict of interest," NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik told reporters here.
"Therefore, his appointment has to be cancelled immediately. We will go to court if the government does not take a decision in this regard in a week," he added.
Malik said cancelling Thakur's appointment was also required as the firm may seek to bag CIDCO's Navi Mumbai International Airport work contracts worth some thousand crores.
Referring to Thakur's recent rebuttal of the "conflict of interest" charge in a media report, Malik said his affidavit for the 2014 Assembly polls shows him having Rs 5.5 crore worth of shares in the firm concerned.
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"So when he says he is not related to the firm, it means he is misleading people," the NCP leader added.
When contacted, Thakur trashed the charges claiming that the allegations were being levelled to target him and the BJP-led government in Maharashtra.
Thakur claimed he had detached himself from the firm in 2006 when he contested Panvel municipal council polls.
A petition was filed before a court alleging his links to the firm in that year and also in 2014, but both stood dismissed, he claimed.
"I am not associated with the firm in any way. I am being linked to the firm (as part of efforts) to target me and the government. I am not going to work against the interest of CIDCO. My colleagues and people in my constituency are also sure about it," he added.
Meanwhile, the NCP launched a campaign posing 56 questions to "those with 56-inch chest" - an apparent reference to Prime Minister Modi.
Modi had made the "56-inch chest" remark in the run up to the 2014 general elections.
As part of the campaign, the NCP leader targeted the government over rising fuel prices. He said prices of petrol and diesel could come down by Rs 20 per litre if the Modi government followed the path taken by the Congress-led UPA government.
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