MP Assembly principal secy's, 60 other appointments illegal, alleges Congress

The Congress alleged on Thursday that more than 60 appointments made in MP Assembly during the Bharatiya Janata Party regime, including that of principal secretary BD Israni, were illegal and violated rules.

The Congress alleged on Thursday that more than 60 appointments made in MP Assembly during the Bharatiya Janata Party regime, including that of principal secretary BD Israni, were illegal and violated rules.

The opposition claimed that it has documentary evidence to prove that Israni's appointment was illegal.

It also alleged that 60 other appointments, including that of minister of legislative affairs Narottam Mishra's nephew Anubhav Katare, BJP state president Raghunandan Sharma's son Narendra Sharma and Union minister Narendra Tomar's personal assistant Narendra Kumar Mishra, were fraudulent.

Addressing a press conference, Congress chief spokesperson KK Mishra said, "Israni was a minor (17 years old) when he was appointed clerk in 1974 despite his poor academic record and was later promoted in 1992."

Besides, a case of corruption was registered against Israni for alleged irregularities (of Rs 6 crore) in construction in the Assembly.

Israni's services had been handed over to Chhattisgarh, but was brought back during the BJP regime and posted as secretary in the assembly secretariat. Following superannuation of AK Payasi, he became the principal secretary.

The party's attack has come days after All India Congress Committee general secretary Digvijaya Singh and former speaker Sriniwas Tiwari were booked for alleged fraud in a recruitment case.

Interestingly, the FIR against Singh was lodged on his birthday, that is, February 25. Thus the Congress made a counter attack on chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's birthday (March 5).

"The BJP misused the Assembly to register a case against Singh, but we have all the documents and are substantiating charges. If action is not taken, we will approach the court," the spokesperson said.

Congress has alleged that Israni had a poor academic record and passed B Com final year with grace marks while he completed the three-year LLB course in more than six years and still he was given the appointment.

Reacting to Congress charges, Israni said the allegations were "baseless".

"Earlier, former MLA Kalpana Parulekar made similar accusations. I had filed a criminal case of defamation against her and she was arrested (she was later released on bail). I challenge the Congress to prove the charges in the court else they should apologise publicly," he further said.