Congress leader Jairam Ramesh. (File Photo | ANI)
NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh has written to CBI Director Subodh Jaiswal asking the probe agency to summon Home Minister Amit Shah over his remark describing Meghalaya's Conrad Sangma government, in its previous term, as corrupt, and to investigate the claim.
In his letter, Ramesh stated that Shah in his public speech on February 17, 2023, said the then government of Meghalaya "was the most corrupt government in the country".
The letter comes amid a row over a Delhi police team reaching Rahul Gandhi's residence last Sunday to inquire about his "women are still being sexually assaulted" statement made during a public speech as part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
In his letter dated March 21, Ramesh said, "Amit Shah is also the home minister of India. In his capacity as the home minister, he would surely have had access to information and facts that led him to this conclusion."
For some "inexplicable reasons", the home minister, who is also the former national president of BJP, has "failed" to act upon the information about the corrupt practices and instances of the then Meghalaya government, Ramesh said in the letter dated March 21 which he tweeted Thursday.
"Therefore, in the highest national interest, we urge you to summon Shri Amit Shah and ask him to submit all the information and facts that led him to the stated assessment and investigate the matter," he said.
"We also urge you to investigate if the home minister of India was under any undue duress from his party or other forces, to suppress the information related to the corruption of Meghalaya, in order to enable his party BJP to support the same chief minister after the recent Meghalaya elections," the Congress leader said.
Tagging his letter to Jaiswal on Twitter, Ramesh said he has written to the Director of CBI, asking the probe agency to question the Union home minister further on his "categorical assertion" that Conrad Sangma's government in Meghalaya was the most corrupt in the country.
"That of course did not prevent the BJP from supporting the same Conrad Sangma again," Ramesh added.
I have written to the Director of CBI asking CBI to question the Home Minister further on his categorical assertion that Conrad Sangma's Govt in Meghalaya was the most corrupt in the country-That of course did not prevent BJP from supporting the same Conrad Sangma again. pic.twitter.com/PxJn52J8ui
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) March 23, 2023
He also shared media reports on Shah's remarks during the campaigning for Meghalaya polls.
The Congress has been attacking the BJP for supporting a government led by NPP chief Conrad Sangma in Meghalaya and has said a few days back his dispensation was considered the "most corrupt" by the top BJP leadership and now the party has joined hands with him.
The opposition party also termed the coalition formed for a new term for the Sangma government a "marriage of convenience."
