Opposition BJP today alleged "financial irregularities" in construction of International Convention Centre in the state capital and demanded a high- level inquiry into the multi-crore project.
BJP Parliamentary Board leader Sushil Kumar Modi said the project, conceived on the lines of Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan, was approved during the NDA government in Bihar, but the foundation stone of the centre with a seating capacity of 5,000 was laid by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on February 8, 2014.
Sushil Modi, who is also Leader of Opposition in Bihar Legislative Council, told reporters that DDF Consultant, which was entrusted with architectural and structural details of the project, had prepared a detailed project report (DPR) of the centre at the heart of the state capital.
"The consultant had presented a revised estimate of the project at Rs 490 crore. After it was queried by Building Construction Department (BCD) about revising estimate from the original one, the company could not give a satisfactory reply and when it was threatened that it would be debarred from bidding it gave a second revised estimate of the project at Rs 587.68 crore," he said.
BCD is at present with Tejaswi Yadav, who is Deputy Chief Minister of the state and son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad.
Following this, DDF Consultant was debarred from making bid in any project of Bihar on January 7, 2015, Sushil Modi, who was Deputy Chief Minister during the NDA rule, said.
But, merely after 20 days of taking oath of grand secular alliance government, the state government started calling work of the debarred company as satisfactory and on January 6, 2016 lifted the debar clause from it, he alleged.
"What happened that the state government which had earlier black listed the company on the ground of irregularities freed it from being debarred within a month of swearing of the new government after Bihar poll?" he asked.
"The consultant should be again put into black list and a high level probe be ordered into the episode," he demanded.
The BJP leader also asked why the department of Road Construction held by Tejaswi Yadav was without a Principal Secretary after senior IAS officer Sudhir Kumar retired in March end and was appointed chief advisor in the same department.
