Indore: As political leaders continued to trade barbs at one another over the issue of illegal mining in Madhya Pradesh, Union Minister Faggan Singh Kulaste on Wednesday said senior Congress functionaries were involved in these operations.
Kulaste, who was here on Wednesday to campaign for the upcoming bypoll in Jhabua, said rampant illegal mining was leading to massive loss of revenue for the state exchequer, adding that he would write to Chief Minister Kamal Nath about the menace and seek his intervention.
The Jhabua by-election was necessitated after the seat was vacated by GS Damore following his Lok Sabha victory from Ratlam. With the stability of Nath’s government constantly being raked up by BJP leaders, a lot is at stake and the by-poll may play a key role in it.
Health Minister Tulsi Silawat said Kulaste was levelling baseless allegations. He said facts suggested illegal mining had surged and flourished under the previous BJP government that ruled the state for 15 years.
Over the last few days, several Congress leaders, including Forest Minister Umang Singhar, have been raising allegations of unhindered illegal mining in the state. Singhar had even accused party veteran Digvijaya Singh of being involved in it.
Recently, Cabinet Minister Govind Singh had kicked up a row after publically accepting that his government had failed to check the menace and apologised to public for the same. Several loyalists of former Guna MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, who is vying the post of state Congress committee chief, accused Singh of himself indulging in the crime in his home town. On Tuesday, Scindia said in Gwalior that the problem required efficient handling.
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