The Congress on Thursday demanded the sacking of Union Textile Minister Smriti Irani for “misusing and financial bungling” in her MP Local Area Development (MPLAD) funds, and cited a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report to back its claims.
“Time has come to sack Union Minister Smriti Irani and lodge an FIR (First Information Report) against her for proper investigation under the Prevention of Corruption Act and different provisions of Indian Penal Code,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala at a joint press conference with senior Gujarat Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil.
The Congress circulated copies of the relevant portion of the CAG report that dealt with Ms. Irani.
The CAG report on the General and Social Sector for the year ended March 2017 said, “Audit observed that the selection of the NGO [Sharda Majoor Kamdar Co-operative Society], as implementing authority was in contravention of the scheme guidelines and government instructions, as no tender procedure was followed for its selection.”
This resulted in irregular payment of ₹5.93 crore, including fraudulent payment of ₹84.53 lakh to the NGO, said the CAG report.
Ms. Irani has selected Anand as her nodal district for development work under the MPLAD scheme.
