Ranchi: Union Minister of State for Home
Affairs Ajay Maken on Sunday regretted that former Jharkhand
Chief Minister Madhu Koda was allowed to continue in office
for too long and said the probe into the multi-crore scam
would be taken to its logical conclusions.
"There is no two opinions over Madhu Koda being allowed
for a longer period (in office). But you know about the
political situation then," Makan said when asked whether he
regretted not having carried out the party's threat to
withdraw support to Koda government two years ago.
Maken was the party's Jharkhand affairs incharge then and
had set a 60-day ultimatum on November 15, 2007, to Koda to
fulfil a 19-point charter of demands, including curbing
corruption or face withdrawal of Congress' outside support.
"The Congress openly stood against corruption at that
time while other parties supporting Koda patted him saying he
was doing a good work," Maken added.
Asserting that the Congress had initiated the movement
that paved the way for things to unfold now, Maken assured
that the scam would be taken to its logical conclusions.
Reacting to BJP President Rajnath Singh's apprehension
that the probe into the Rs 2000 crore hawala and illegal
investment scam might be hushed up after the assembly
elections, Maken said "Rajnath Singh ought not nurse such
apprehension. If necessary, the case could be given to any
agency, including the CBI, for further probe, covering the BJP
and the Koda regimes."
"We will not spare any leader's involvement in the scam.
We will make efforts to get back the public money," the
minister said.
The Congress has always fought against corruption, he
said, adding even IAS officers were taken to task to root out
corruption.
Two IAS officers in Jharkhand are now under suspension
after the CBI booked them on corruption charges.
Expressing confidence of the Congress-JVM-P's success in
the ensuing assembly elections, Maken claimed that the people
of Jharkhand have seen how development work could be speeded
up after the new governor K Sankaranarayanan took over.
"We have aligned with Babulal Marandi's Jharkhand Vikas
Morcha (Prajatantric) as Marandi has a clean image among all
the four former chief ministers in the state. We will not have
any post poll alliance with tainted leaders or MLAs too,"
Maken said.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, November 22, 2009, 21:22