Slamming chief minister Prithviraj Chavan over the probe of irrigation scam, the BJP on Thursday accused him of breaking his promise under pressure from his alliance partner Nationalist Congress Party and protecting the culprits of the scam. The Opposition leaders even demanded that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed under Madhav Chitale to probe the scam, should be brought under the Commission of Inquiry Act. Talking to reporters at Vasant Smruti Bhavan at Dadar, the leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Eknath Khadse said, “Mr Chavan had promised that the SIT would probe irregularities in the irrigation scam under the Commission of Inquiry Act. But, he retracted his statement.” Mr Khadse was reacting to the chief minister’s recent remarks in which he has said that the SIT was formed not to nail someone, but to identify the past mistakes and look into technical discrepancies. “Why did the chief minister take a U-turn I wonder whether Congress ministers are also involved in this scam,” Mr Khadse said expressing his doubt over the recent statement of the chief minister. He then alleged that the Chitale committee was to be brought under the Commission of Inquiry Act. However, Mr Chavan seems to be covering up the issue. “We want to know who has pressurised him to change his stand,” the Opposition leader said. The leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Vinod Tawde also alleged that the SIT was not accepting evidence of the irrigation scam from the BJP, even though the state government has submitted an affidavit in the Bombay high court in this regard. Referring to an undertaking submitted by advocate General Darius Khambatta in the high court, Mr Tawde said that the state government has assured the court that it will accept fresh evidence related to the irrigation scam if submitted by anyone, but is still refusing to do so. Mr Chitale, who is an international expert of water resources, was appointed as the head of the SIT last December in the light of rampant corruption in irrigation projects. The revelations had even forced the deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar to resign from his post, as he was the irrigation minister when the alleged irregularities took place.
