Senior BJP leader Kirit Somaiya on Sunday said opposition parties in Pimpri-Chinchwad and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut should provide proof of alleged corruption in Smart City projects so that he could pursue the matter with the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Somaiya was speaking at a press conference in Pimpri-Chinchwad. Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena workers protested his arrival in the city by showing black flags.
“The opposition in Pimpri-Chinchwad is alleging that there was a multi-crore scam in the Smart City projects being implemented in the city. However, they have not provided any proof to substantiate their allegations. Even MP Sanjay Raut had submitted a letter to me in this connection. I had asked him to submit proof in the regard, which he has failed to do,” said Somiya.
The BJP leader said Raut had submitted a letter and along with it, 17-18 papers. “But not a single paper is related to ED. Of these, six papers are of office-bearers of Shiv Sena. The Sena leaders have already submitted their complaints to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Minister Eknath Shinde. The Sena has a chief minister in Maharashtra. The CM should tell us what probe he carried out on complaints made by the Sena office-bearers,” he said.
Somaiya said if corruption charges are to be taken up with the ED, it needs to be backed with evidence. “Raut said I should complain about the corruption in Pimpri-Chinchwad to the ED. I had demanded necessary documents from him to file a complaint with ED. So far, he has given me no evidence. If their allegations are not backed by evidence, why would the ED probe them,” he said.
Somaiya, however, evaded questions on the arrest of PCMC Standing Committee chairman Nitin Landge, who is a BJP corporator, on corruption charges.
