Liquor, Mahadev app scam linked with Jharkhand: Anurag Thakur

Shimla, Dec 16 (PTI) Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday said the liquor, coal, and Mahadev app scams in Chhattisgarh are connected with Jharkhand where Rs 353 crore in cash was recovered from a Congress MP.

There are several examples of Congress leaders being caught with black money, which is the reason the party was against demonetisation and is opposed to the Central Bureau of India and Enforcement Directorate, Thakur told reporters in Bilaspur.

The minister was referring to the seizure of Rs 351 crore in cash from Odisha-based Boudh Distillery Private Limited owned by the family of Dhiraj Sahu — the Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand.

The Income Tax department termed the recovery the “highest-ever” haul in a single action by any probe agency in the country.

Earlier, Rs 42 crore was recovered from a Congress leader in Karnataka, he said.

Thakur alleged that corruption was so rampant in the Chhattisgarh Congress government that it birthed a saying “Corruption Karo aur phir ‘Bhu’ pay Karo”– implying chief minister Bhupesh Bhagel received kickbacks.

The victory of BJP in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh speaks volumes of the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is also the most popular leader in the world, he said.

Thakur said that the Congress has failed the people of Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, as he accused the party of being a “mute spectator” in the latter state, where a Dalit woman was stripped and paraded naked.