The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday accused Congress MP from Maharashtra Vijay Darda of being hand in glove with Union Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal in the coalgate, alleging that he made profits exceeding Rs. 25,000 crore by allocation of coal blocks in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand at subpar market rates.
Alleging that Jawaharlal Darda (JLD)-Yavatmal Energy Ltd. was “a scam wrought by Mr. Darda and Mr. Jaiswal,” BJP leader Kirit Somaiya said here that several of the duo’s relatives, including Mr. Darda himself, served on the company’s board as directors.
‘Covert allotment’
The company was allotted a coal block in Fatehpur East in Chhattisgarh non-transparently, alleged Mr. Somaiya. Mr. Darda and Mr. Jaiswal allegedly floated “several companies” to “grab coalmines,” including JAS Infrastructure and Power Ltd. (a part of the Abhijeet Power group) with its registered office at Kolkata.
“The value of this single reserve is Rs. 10,000 crore. The company [JLD-Yavatmal Energy] was especially formed to get this lucrative coal block from the Congress-led UPA government in January 2006,” Mr. Somaiya said.
Unravelling what he termed ‘documentary evidence,’ the BJP leader said JAS infrastructure and Power Ltd. was in joint venture with several coal power projects of the ‘Darda-Jaiswal group’.
Similarly, coal blocks were allotted to Abhijeet Infrastructure Ltd in Sasai and Meral in Jharkhand, Jayaswal Neco Ltd in Moitra in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh district, and the same company in Gare Palma in Chhattisgarh at throwaway prices, alleged Mr. Somaiya, accusing Mr. Darda and Mr. Jaiswal of abusing their positions in the Congress.
