Congress rakes up Scania bus issue to target BJP

New Delhi | The Congress has attacked the BJP in the Scania bus deal and alleged corruption in the process.

Addressing a press conference on Friday Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said, “In the year 2014, SVLL announced a partnership with international luxury bus manufacturer Scania to launch services comprising of “in-house restrooms and pantries, and ultra-luxurious facilities like Personal LCD screen with USB compatibility and Sennheiser headphones along with Mobile/Laptop charging points and Wi-Fi connection.”

Khera said the company in question Siddhi Vinayak Logistics Limited (SVLL) was registered in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in 2002. It is a transport company run by Surat based businessman Roop Chand Baid.

Khera alleged that SVLL is close to the BJP leaders. “And the latest scam is the one confirmed by the CEO of Scania, Henrik Henriksson, that bribes were paid in order to get contracts for buses in India. The revelation by the CEO of Scania also brings to light claims by SVT that an Indian Minister was paid bribes by the company,” he said.

Pawan Khera said that in a February 2015 report, it was highlighted that SVLL was the Bank of Maharashtra’s largest defaulter. Despite being a defaulter, the fact that the company had friends in the highest echelons of power, meant that neither were the loan accounts tagged as NPA’s nor were they classified as wilful defaulters.

“The central element of this entire fraud is P N Deshpande, General Manager, Resource Planning, Government Business, Marketing & Publicity, Bank of Maharashtra and Roop Chand Baid. A complaint against Deshpande was filed with the CVC, KV Chowdhary in February 2016. Subsequently the CBI also filed an FIR in this connection,” Khera alleged.

IANS

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