Disclose details of firms, AAP to CM

Dehradun, February 8

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fired a fresh salvo at Chief Minister Harish Rawat by asking him to reveal the details of the companies that the state government had given projects of Rs 3,300 crore.

AAP had alleged that these companies could be fake as these had “no digital footprints” and could be a front for money laundering. It rejected the government clarification and threatened to continue its “battle against corruption till the very end”.

Chief Minister’’s media in-charge Surendra Kumar had said, “The MoU is in its initial stage and no money transaction has taken place. Hence, there is no need of creating a fuss that could affect the investment climate in the state.”

He said the pact was part of the state government’s efforts to identify the development potential of the state. Senior AAP leader Anoop Nautiyal posed a series of counter questions to the Chief Minister.

“Rawat is yet to disclose the name and addresses of the companies with which the deal was signed, the identities of their directors and promoters,” he said. The basic question regarding the credentials of the foreign firms still remains unanswered.

On the state government’s contention that the MoU was in a preliminary stage, he said the MoU was never executed in a phased manner.

Nautiyal asked the Chief Minister why he was becoming a votary of “fraudulent” companies and wondered when would IT giants such as Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Accenture, Mindtree and Adobe get a chance to invest in Uttarakhand.

Nautiyal had unsuccessfully contested the last Lok Sabha elections on the AAP ticket from the Tehri Garhwal seat. He had claimed that the Uttarakhand Government had signed an agreement with International Oil Corporation (IOC), UAE and Kabul and Hong Kong-based Nuwam Limited for an investment of $500 million at Uttarakhand Sadan, New Delhi, on December 9.

Nautiyal produced a copy of an official release informing mediapersons about the signing of the MoU and alleged that the existence of these companies was suspect as they had no “digital footprints”.

“If the allegations are proved true, the Chief Minister should immediately resign on moral grounds and the MoU with the so called companies be cancelled,” he said. — PTI