UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said “It should be probed that why Shrikant Sharma visited Dubai in September-October 2017. Whom did he meet there?”
Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government had a war of words with the opposition over the EPF scam. The state Congress sought on Wednesday a probe into power minister Shrikant Sharma’s “visit to Dubai in 2017”.
The Power minister has claimed that he has never been on a foreign trip and raised the question on what basis, such as “baseless allegations” were being levelled against him.
Sharma is in the eye of a raging storm over parking of EPF money of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) staff to the tune of over Rs 2,600 crore in scam-hit DHFL, whose promoters were recently grilled by the Enforcement Directorate for their links with a front company of Iqbal Mirchi, a former aide of fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim.
UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said “It should be probed that why Shrikant Sharma visited Dubai in September-October 2017. Whom did he meet there?”.
Lallu said the matter of investment of UPPCL employees’ EPF money in Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited not only amounts to corruption but is also related to national security.
The state Congress chief intensified his attacks on the government days after the party’s UP spokesperson Ashok Singh, demanded that Sharma should be “sacked” from the ministry in the wake of “such a major scam”.
Ashok Singh said, “After such a major scam in the UP Power Corporation, will Yogi Aditynath tell as to why is the Energy minister not being removed,”.
Facing flak from the opposition on the issue, Sharma sought to put up a brave face by asserting that the UP Congress chief was levelling “baseless allegations in order to garner publicity in the media”.
Sharma asked “Lallu’s leader goes to foreign countries on vacation. If he has to seek a report, then it should be for the trips undertaken by Rahul Gandhi, who despite being an SPG protect, roams around in foreign countries without security. What does he do?”.
Sharma added “Lallu is transcending all barriers of dignity in public life and playing in petty politics. He must keep these things in mind,”.
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