Maha irrigation scam: AAP to release black paper

Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will release a 'black paper' today in response to the white paper on irrigation over the past decade prepared by Maharashtra in a public rally in Roha.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will release a 'black paper' on Sunday in response to the white paper on irrigation over the past decade prepared by Maharashtra's water resources department in a public rally in Roha.

Activist-turned-politician-Arvind-Kejriwal-C-meets-supporters-during-the-launch-of-the-Aam-Aadmi-Party-in-New-Delhi-HT-Photo

Roha is the political stronghold of state irrigation minister Sunil Tatkare.

The white paper, tabled in the Maharashtra Cabinet on Thursday, gave a clean chit to former irrigation minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar.

Pawar had resigned as the Maharashtra deputy chief minister following allegations of a scam in irrigation projects. The irrigation portfolio has always been with the NCP.

"It is a mere eye wash to cover up their wrong doing, this is why are tabling a white paper," a statement released by AAP.

"It is an extensively researched document that will show how the politicians first looted and are now covering up their misdeeds. The shocking state of irrigation will be laid bare," a party statement said.

The most important aspect of the black paper is exposing the modus operandi of how the irrigation scam was perpetuated by the politician-bureaucrat-contractor nexus, it said.

"This is the reason why the sabha is being held at Roha, the home town of current irrigation minister Sunil Tatkare. His own neighborhood is demanding his resignation," the statement added.