Industries Minister Mukesh Agnihotri has termed the allegations leveled by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitely through media and in a letter to the Prime Minister and Director Central Bureau of Investigation as a conspiracy to tarnish the image of Virbhadra Singh. He expressed surprise that a senior BJP leader had made an attempt to sensationalize the issue and mislead the people by hiding the facts which was an immoral act. He said that the misdeeds of Dhumal family would be exposed in the public soon.
Mukesh Agnihotri said that the Sai Kothi Project was allocated to M/S Bentore Energy and Technology Ltd. by the then Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal during the year 2002, which he was not telling to the media and people of the State. Agnihotri stated that the then Dhumal Govt gave extension to this project twice in year 2009 and 2010 for 21 months and 15 days respectively. Jaitely also tried to hide the fact that the State Government lead by Virbhadra Singh had cancelled the allocation of the project and memorandum of understanding with this company because it failed to deposit Rs. 58 lakh during the stipulated time period, he added.
Agnihotri claimed that Jaitely had also hidden the facts that the congress government had rejected the proposal of the company to renew the project thrice between April 2003 to 2004. The company filed a petition in Himachal Pradesh High Court and the Court ordered to give this project to Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board. Later, the Company went in appeal in the Supreme Court of India which directed to reconsider the matte of allocation of this project.
Mukesh Agnihotri said that Jaitely had also made these allegations during a press conference before the Vidhan Sabha elections in the State. He said that BJP had tried to mislead the people of the State by making false allegations but the people of the State gave heavy mandate to the congress party. He said that the BJP was feeling jittery of the development made during one year tenure of the present Government and the successful rally organised at Hamirpur by the congress party.
Earlier, Prashant Bhushan had also filed a case against Virbhadra Singh on same allegations whereas Bhushan illegally purchased tea gardens in Himachal Pradesh during the regime of Dhumal Government which was being inquired, Agnihotri added.
The Industries Minister said that in the past also Dhumal filed false cases against Virbhadra Singh and he was still continuing with his mischief as he had been nurturing an ill intention of ousting Virbhadra Singh from the political scenario. He said that the nefarious designs of Dhumal will never succeed.
Agnihotri said that the duo of Jaitely and Anurag Thakur was hatching conspiracy against Virbhadra Singh as Anurag Thakur and family has made HPCA as their personal fiefdom whereas Jaitely has interests in Delhi Cricket Association. The BJP leaders were feeling the heat of the inquiry which was being conducted into the irregularities of the HPCA and therefore they were hatching this conspiracy to affect the inquiry against HPCA.
