Anti-corruption activist Anjali Damania revealed documents detailing Rs 88 crore worth of corrupt deals by Maharashtra Food & Civil Supplies Minister Dhananjay Munde on Tuesday, after which Munde met Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. However, details of their meeting are yet to be known.
The documents presented by Anjali Damania pertain to alleged irregularities in Dhananjay Munde’s department when he was Maharashtra’s agriculture minister.
Damania alleged a Rs 88-crore scam in the Agriculture Department when NCP leader Dhananjay Munde was agriculture minister in the previous Mahayuti coalition government in Maharashtra. She alleged despite the Union government’s 2016 directive to transfer money directly to farmers’ bank accounts under the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Scheme, the department headed by Munde purchased equipment and fertilisers for distribution to farmers at inflated rates.
“These documents are proof of how a minister siphoned off farmers’ money and violated laws. As per the government resolution (GR) on DBT, all scheme-related funds were to be transferred directly to farmers’ bank accounts, except for certain government entities such as Mahabeej, KVK, and MAIDC, which produce their own goods. However, this rule was disregarded,” Damania alleged.
Reacting to the allegations by Anjali Damania, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Shirsat said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would “certainly take notice” of the allegations and order an inquiry”.
However, Munde quickly issued a statement denying all allegations and documentary evidence released by anti-corruption activist Anjali Damania.
“All this is being done only to defame me. Should the government decide the purchase price in the agriculture department by asking Damania? Have any of the allegations made by Anjali Damania been proven anywhere? Anjali Damania creates a sensation by making these allegations. However, all the allegations she has made are false. There is nothing in those allegations beyond creating a sensation. I wish all the best to whoever has given the task of making accusations against me to Anjali Damania. Damania is a slanderer (Badnamia),” Dhananjay Munde said.
Reacting to Munde calling her “Badnamia”, Anjali Damania said, “Dhananjay Munde held a press conference and called me whatever names he wanted. He did not call me Damania but Badnamia. If I was giving evidence to merely defame people, nobody would have taken me seriously. Let him say whatever he wants to say, but I will bring out evidence one by one and show you (Munde) your place. If you (Munde) had spent even one percent of the time you spent with Valmik Karad as a minister, you would not have seen these days today.”
After that, she read out all the Government Resolutions (GRs) and the evidence against Munde.
Meanwhile former Maharashtra home minister and Sharad Pawar-led led NCP leader Anil Deshmukh said in Nagpur that anti-corruption activist Anjali Damania’s allegations against Dhananjay Munde could be part of a BJP conspiracy to target the MLAs of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s NCP.
“The murder case of Sarpanch Deshmukh is being investigated by various investigative agencies including the CID. The investigation report of this case should be submitted as soon as possible, and whoever is guilty should be brought to the fore. However, even after two months, the report about this case has not been submitted. There is a delay in bringing out the truth through the report. On the other hand, BJP MLA Suresh Dhas and now Anjali Damania have started accusing Munde. This seems to be part of the BJP’s political conspiracy to target Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s NCP,” Deshmukh said but did not elaborate about what exactly he meant by “target”.