Congress on Wednesday turned on the heat on revenue minister Eknath Khadse for allegedly falsely quoting the price of a land parcel in suburban Ambernath.
Congress on Wednesday turned on the heat on revenue minister Eknath Khadse for allegedly falsely quoting the price of a land parcel in suburban Ambernath. This is the same piece of land for which Mr Khadse’s ‘personal aide’, Gajanan Patil, was arrested for demanding a Rs 30-crore bribe. The market price of the 10.78-hectare land is Rs 405 crore while Mr Khadse falsely quoted a price of just Rs 5 crore, alleged Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant.
“The minister has been falsely quoting the price of the land as Rs 5 crore. His PA has been caught by Anti-corruption Bureau (ACB) last week for demanding a bribe for the same land. The price of the land as per revenue department is Rs 152 crore while its market value is Rs 405 crore. However, Mr Khadse has been quoting the value as way lower to misguide people. This is very suspicious and he should clarify the issue,” said Mr Sawant. However, a clarification issued by the revenue department states that price of the land is just Rs 5 crore.
Dr R.K. Jadhav, who wanted the land to set up an international society for excellence in projects management and research, had complained to the ACB about Mr Patil who allegedly demanded a bribe to get the work done.
Going a step further, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik demanded that two other PAs of Mr Khadse — Shantaram Bhoir and Unmesh Mahajan — also be arrested.
“Mr Bhoir has been working with Mr Khadse (since) when the latter was in the Opposition. He handles the entire office of Mr Khadse and knows many things.
Mr Mahajan too was involved in the bribe case and hence, both should be arrested,” said Mr Malik.
Mr Khadse has been at the media’s receiving end for a few days now after the arrest of his ‘PA’. Despite clarifying that Mr Patil’s arrest nowhere proves his involvement in the case, the Opposition does not want to leave any opportunity to score brownie points over the ruling coalition. Both Congress and NCP have demanded that Mr Khadse resign from his post, else an unbiased probe would be difficult.
