Andhra Pradesh BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao writes to governor for probe
VIJAYAWADA: A day after Finance Secretary M Ravichandra said that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India’s findings on the Personal Deposit (PD) accounts were ‘not logical’ and that not a rupee was ‘misused’, BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao, who has been alleging irregularities in the management of the accounts, has sought a special CAG audit followed by a CBI probe into the ‘scam’.
In this regard, he wrote a letter to Governor ESL Narasimhan on Saturday, seeking his intervention into the ‘mega financial scandal’ of Rs 53,039 crore. “This is an organised loot of the public money with widespread collusion at all levels has become evident from the frivolous statements of several ministers, politicians from the ruling TDP and senior officials in the government that not a rupee in the PD accounts has been misutilised,” he said, in the letter.
He informed the Governor that the TDP government was ‘blocking’ the disclosure and scrutiny of the Rs 51,488 crore as it was scared that the real beneficiaries of the financial scandal would be exposed. “The CAG report suspected embezzlement of funds and even reported, on the basis of a test audit, withdrawal of Rs 258 crore through 63 ‘self’ cheques in violation of rules,” he said, observing that the TDP government would not have obstructed a further probe into the issue had there not been any misuse of the money.
Reminding that the intervention of Bihar Governor during the fodder scam helped the investigation and eventually resulted in the conviction of former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, the BJP MP said, “Curiously, the then Bihar government had made similar claims of honesty like the present government in Andhra Pradesh.”
Hence, the BJP MP requested the Governor to order a special CAG audit and a CBI probe to ‘fix criminal liability of the people who perpetrated the gigantic financial fraud’.
In response to GVL’s letter, TDP MLC TD Janardhan Rao fumed at the BJP MP for misleading the Governor with false accusations. He said that the State government had given necessary clarifications to the CAG, and added that the Public Accounts Committee was also ‘satisfied’ with the government’s explanation. Janardhan also said that the BJP MP was ‘insulting’ the Indian Constitution by calling the issue a scam.
“The CAG report did not state that there was misuse of the funds. The State government answered every query raised by the CAG too. Are you ready for an open debate on the PD accounts?” he challenged.