Bhopal, Jun 11 (PTI) The opposition Congress on Wednesday claimed every scheme of the Centre running in Madhya Pradesh was drowned in the 'quagmire of corruption' and alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state has acquired an exploitative nature.
Talking to reporters at the state Congress office here, the party's Madhya Pradesh unit president Jitu Patwari said the alleged misgovernance was not only a 'betrayal' of people's trust, but also a 'robbery' of the rights of the poor.
"It is shameful that Chief Minister Mohan Yadav boasted about the achievements of 11 years of the Modi government, while the reality is that every scheme of the Centre in Madhya Pradesh was trapped in the quagmire of corruption," he alleged.
Patwari described as mere 'drum beating' achievements of the Modi government, which completed 11 years in office on June 9, listed by Yadav at a press conference in Bhopal on Tuesday.
The former state minister maintained that ambitious welfare/development schemes of the central government, which were launched for the upliftment of the poor, farmers and rural population, have fallen prey to corruption in the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh.
He alleged that corruption is taking place in a range of schemes across departments, including Jal Jeevan Mission, Swachh Bharat Mission, Mudra Yojana, Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and Ayushman Bharat.
"This corruption is not only eroding the trust of people, but also snatching the rights of the poor, farmers and villagers," the MPCC president noted.
Patwari claimed that while on the one hand rural women have to walk for miles to fetch water, the poor are homeless and farmers debt-ridden, on the other corrupt contractors, officials and middlemen are filling their pockets.
"Estimated scams of up to Rs 21,000 crore in Jal Jeevan Mission and Rs 13.21 crore in Swachh Bharat Mission expose this corrupt system. No work is being done in the state without paying commission. Mohan Yadav's government has become a government of exploitation," he alleged.
The state Congress president demanded a high-level inquiry into alleged corruption in the implementation of central schemes in Madhya Pradesh.
However, the ruling BJP hit back at the opposition party, calling its allegations false, baseless and a bundle of lies, and challenged the Congress to present evidence to back its claim of irregularities.
State BJP spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi told PTI, "By levelling allegations, the Congress is only revealing its true spirit of corruption. Corruption is character of the Congress."
"The party whose top leaders are on bail in corruption cases and whose government was thrown out of power by people on the issue of corruption can only make such baseless statements. Patwari should present evidence," he insisted.