NCP accuses minister of conflict of interest; demands resignation

NCP's Malik, had accused Rawal of indulging in dubious land deals in his home district Dhule in the wake of suicide committed by 84-year-old farmer Dharma Patil, who was seeking compensation.

MUMBAI: Accusing him of conflict of interests and of being on board of the company blacklisted after demonetization, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) demanded resignation of Maharashtra tourism minister Jaykumar Rawal here on Wednesday.

Rawal, however, denied all the charges and termed the allegations as baseless.

“Rawal’s company Toranmal Hill Resorts Private Ltd. was operating the resort owned by state-run tourism development corporation (MTDC) in Nandurbar district of North Maharashtra despite being blacklisted after demonetization,” said NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik. 

Since, as tourism minister, Rawal is the chairman of the MTDC, this amounts to conflict of interest, Malik said.

“From 1998 to 2006 the said company was given the MTDC resort on lease. The company did not pay the lease rent to the MTDC, which in turn invoked provisions of the Eviction of Public Premises Act, in 2011 and sent a notice to the company. However, MTDC officials were not allowed to do their work and were forcibly turned away,” Malik added. He also said that after being blacklisted post demonetization, the company was also deregistered in the month of June last year.

Malik, had last month, accused Rawal of indulging in dubious land deals in his home district Dhule in the wake of suicide committed by 84-year-old farmer Dharma Patil, who was seeking adequate compensation for his land which was acquired for a solar project.

The NCP, last week, had also sought an inquiry by Maharashtra Lokayukta against Raval for the alleged irregularities in land dealings in Dhule and Nandurbar, while Rawal had filed a defamation suit against Malik.

In a clarification issued today, the minister said that though his father controlled the said company from 1990 to 2000, after his resignation from the company in 2000, none of the Rawal family members are in any ways associated with the company and that the allegations regarding conflict of interest are absolutely baseless.

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