New Delhi: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had denied any conflict of interest as he was not a minister then. He said it on Friday after he had been caught himself in another controversy in the wake of reports that he got big favors from the Essar Group.
Nitin Gadkari had claimed the Esssar Group-sponsored cruise ‘hospitality’.
He said, “There was no conflict of interest as I wasn’t a minister then. I will not do so now that I am a minister…but then I was neither an MP nor BJP president.”
A report published by a leading daily today claimed that the Essar Group favored Nitin Gadkari, UPA ministers and some journalists, and gave special privileges to them.
As per the report, Shashi Ruia-led Essar Group sponsored a trip on a foreign yacht for Nitin Gadkari and his family in 2013.
According to the internal company communications of the Essar Group, the company had arranged a French cruise for Gadkari and family in 2013.
A helicopter was also arranged for the family in order to transport them to the yacht.
The report also said that former UPA minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, Congress leaders Digvijay Singh and Motilal Vora, and BJP’s Varun Gandhi referred candidates for jobs in Essar.
As per an Essar official, 200 posts were reserved for recommendations only. A separate data was maintained for the same. Internal e-mails also state that 200 expensive mobile phones were distributed to officers and MLAs, journalists were also provided cab facilities and the company kept a record of all these privileges.
The ruling BJP too refused to react to the report about Gadkari taking French cruise along with his family, which was sponsored by the Essar Group.
BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “This kind of news keeps coming every day. We don’t need to react on this.”
Meanwhile, AAP leader and lawyer Prashant Bhushan’s NGO today filed a PIL in the Supreme Court demanding a probe by the CBI or SIT against the Essar Group for allegedly giving favors to senior politicians and journalists.
Bureau Report
Leave a Reply