High drama in Guj assembly over graft charges

Congress leader alleged land was given to private firm at throwaway price

PTI | March 5, 2010



The Gujarat assembly on Friday witnessed a high drama after the ruling BJP proposed breach of privilege motion against Congress leader Arjun Modhvadia following his allegations of corruption in a land deal for building a hotel in Surat.

Modhvadia on Thursday alleged corruption on the part of the Narendra Modi government in the land deal. The state government's contention was that the price of land given to the industrial house was fixed by the Supreme Court and there was no corruption in it.

Modhvadia challenged the government that if they proved his allegations wrong he would resign from his post and retire from public life.

However, following the debate in the assembly it was decided not to introduce the motion with the BJP claiming that the leader of opposition has apologised on behalf of Modhvadia's allegation made in the House.

While, Leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil maintained that the motion was withdrawn after he cited specific rules of the assembly stating that such motion cannot be brought.

Modhvadia had alleged in the assembly that the Modi government had allotted 65,000 sq mt land to Chhatrala India Group of Hotels to build a seven-star hotel in Surat at a throwaway price, which has resulted into loss of Rs 500 crore to the government.

The Congress leader had claimed that the government had sold the land of the Navsari Agriculture University in over Rs.200 crore even though the prevailing market value of the said land was more than Rs.700 crore.

Government spokesperson Jaynarayan Vyas proposed the breach of privilege motion against Modhvadia and said that as a member of an august house, the Congress leader should not have made allegations against the government in the manner he did on Thursday.

The leader of the opposition opposed the motion saying that there was no provision in the rules of the assembly to bring breach of privilege motion against member for the reasons cited by Vyas.

There was a heated debate among members of both the party on the issue. Speaker of the House had to intervene number of times to control the outburst by members of both the parties.

Challenging the government, Modhvadia said,"I have been elected by the people to put forth their problems in the Assembly and I am bound by them."

"I have given documentary evidence in the house stating that it was under the pressure from the Chief Minister's office that the Surat district authorities sold the land at throw away prices," he said, adding that even the district officials were not agreed to the rates decided by the government.

Comments

 

Other News

Here’s an I.D.E.A. for career growth and success

Success in today’s professional organisation is no longer solely determined by academic qualifications, technical expertise or years of experience. While these attributes do matter, organisations increasingly value individuals who demonstrate the right mindset and behavioural qualities. The ability

PM interacts with CEOs, founders of space startups

Prime minister Narendra Modi interacted with CEOs and Founders of 20 Space Startups at Seva Teerth on Friday.   CEOs of leading companies in the space sector working in diverse fields ranging from building rockets and reusable semi-cryogenic launch vehicles, avionics, satelli

From one cow to a dairy business

In 2012, Anita Dash wasn`t dreaming of building a dairy brand. She wasn`t studying business models or planning market expansion. Like countless mothers across India, her focus was on something much simpler: giving her children a better future.   At the time, her most valuable

Ethanol blending: The two sides of a story

India`s crude oil consumption is estimated to be around 88.5% imported from abroad. This one single figure is also responsible for why ethanol has become both an economic strategy and fuel policy at the same time. In an economy like India, which depends so heavily on foreign oil, any increase in internat

Food inflation: Not a macroeconomic statistic but a developmental indicator

India`s retail inflation shows a reassuring picture at first glance. According to the latest data, Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation edged up to 4.38% in June 2026 from 3.93% in May 2026, but continued to remain within the Reserve Bank of India`s (RBI) target band of 4% (+/- 2%). However, beneath this

Skin in the game or masterful market timing?

When a company founder opens their personal chequebook to buy shares in their own business, stock markets usually applaud. To the average retail investor, it feels like the ultimate vote of confidence, a sign that the people running the show have real skin in the game and believe brighter days are ahead.

Upcoming Conferences



-->

Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter