Prakash Mehta under fire by Opposition

Mumbai: On the third consecutive day, leader of the opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil made fresh allegations of corruption against housing minister Prakash Mehta. Mr Vikhe was not allowed to speak in the house, as he had not sought the necessary permission from the speaker, which is necessary to name any member of the house. This led to three adjournment of the assembly. However, Mr Mehta denied the allegations and called them cheap.

In the Assembly, when Mr Patil raised the issue, it led to noisy scenes. Finance minister Sudhir Mungatiwar said that he had not sought the speaker's permission and hence his statements should be expunged from the proceedings.

Later, speaking to the media outside the assembly, Mr Patil alleged that the housing minister's company Shri Sai Sidhi Pvt Ltd undertook an SRA project in Ghatkopar. The beneficiaries of the project are still waiting for a house in the building, which was constructed last year. But Mr Mehta's son Harsh and his relatives have been named as tenants. “Mehta used his influence to get flats for his relatives. This is a conflict of interest,” he said.

In another case, an FIR was registered against Mr Mehta by a Manish Shah, related to his flat in Samyak Darshan building in Ghatkopar. Shah, with the help of a BMC deputy engineer Sagar Mehta, lodged a complain about illegal constructions in some of the flats in the building, including Mr Mehta's flat, which was in the name of his wife Kishori Mehta. The FIR was registered in Pant Nagar police station. MrVikhe alleged that the minister changed his wife's name in the FIR from Kishori to Kishor to avoid controversy.

NCP leader Jayant Patil said that there are new allegations against the minister every day and hence he should resign. “The government is not giving any assurance about the inquiry but protecting the tainted minister. It is a serious issue when the government keeps boasting about corruption-free governance,”  Patil said.

NCP leader Ajit Pawar said, “another corruption matter has come up against Mehta. The CM had assured that he would discuss the matter of an inquiry into the corruption with opposition leaders but he did not invite anyone. The minister has admitted that he has committed the mistake. If Mopalwar is removed from the post then why not the minister? Even Eknath Khadse resigned from the ministry on charges of corruption. Mehta should be removed from the post,” he said. However, parliamentary affairs minister Girish Bapat said the CM would discuss the issue with the opposition before the inquiry.

Speaking to the media later, Mr Mehta denied all allegations and lashed out at the opposition leader for his cheap allegations. “The allegations levelled against me are very cheap and it is unfair to bring my wife's name into the matter. It seems to me that there is a competition between Vikhe Patil and Prithviraj Chavan to show their performance in the house and hence such cheap allegations were made against me,” he said.  “Though I was director of Sai Siddhi Pvt Ltd, I left the post before becoming the minister. Also, my son Harsh is an official tenant. The allegations that my wife's name was changed is also wrong. The flat belongs to my wife but my brother Kishor stays there,” he informed the assembly.