Chhattisgarh: Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh Raman Singh, is accused of Rs 36,000-crore rice scam in the state. The opposition Congress on Saturday trained its guns on BJP and claimed to have fresh proof linking CM in the alleged scam. The attack on CM comes after reports of two of the BJP Chief minister’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused of Vyapam scam and Vasundhara Raje who is targeted on corruption charges surfaced.
The main Opposition demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the scam, from which Singh’s wife Veena and sister-in-law Renuka reportedly benefited.

AICC spokesman Ajay Maken, with Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel, briefing press persons said, “In the garb of providing rice at Re 1 per kg under PDS, Raman Singh created a well-oiled corruption machine in connivance with rice mill owners, PDS shop owners and public officials to earn thousands of crores as kickbacks and commission.”

The renewed attack on Singh is part of the Congress’ strategy to highlight allegations on corruption in BJP-ruled states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. This is being seen as an attempt by the Congress to highlight Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim of zero tolerance towards corruption.

Maken said there were similar instances of corruption in the procurement of other commodities like salt, gram, kerosene and wheat through the state civil supplies corporation.

In the past few weeks, the Congress has levelled allegations of impropriety against External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje for helping former IPL ex-chief Lalit Modi procure travel documents in the UK.

Chouhan is under fire from the Congress for reported irregularities in recruitment in the MP government for various professional posts — widely known as the Vyapam scam.