 "Dilip Ghosh")
The West Bengal BJP has claimed that union minister Kapil Moreshwar Patil, who said that he does not know of any corruption in the implementation of MGNREGA in West Bengal, is unaware of the ground reality related to it and officers have submitted misleading reports to him.
The ruling TMC seized the opportunity and said the state BJP has been lying about corruption in the implementation of the scheme in the state and should "apologise" for making "false allegations".
"I don't know what he (Patil) has said. Maybe because he is a minister of state, he is not well aware of the facts and ground realities. You (journalists) have to speak to the union cabinet minister in charge of the department," West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said on Thursday.
BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh claimed that Patil may not know about corruption in the implementation of MGNREGA as central government officers are not doing their jobs properly.
"They (officers) came, stayed in hotels and submitted reports in a way that block development officers wanted them to do. So, it is quite natural that he (Patil) will not be aware of the ground reality," he added.
Patil, the union minister of state for panchayati raj, contradicting allegations of corruption by state BJP leaders, had said on Wednesday here that he cannot remark off-hand on the allegations of corruption at the panchayat level in the state and will have to check with officers before making any comment.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said Patil had spoken the truth and the state BJP has been caught lying about corruption in MGNREGA.
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"The union minister himself has said he is not aware of any corruption. BJP should apologise for making false allegations," he said.
Patil had rejected TMC's allegation of 'non-release' of MGNREGA funds by the Centre to West Bengal and said there were complaints that some states have changed the names of central schemes.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
