BJP minister’s daughter gets grant from Centre, alleges Congress

The Congress party in Assam has alleged that a company owned by the daughter of a state BJP minister has received a grant from the ruling party's agro-processing scheme. The ministry of food processing industries approved a grant of INR 10 crore ($1.35 million) to the firm, of which INR 3.15 crore has already been released. The BJP minister has defended the grant, stating that his daughter's firm met all the necessary criteria for approval. The opposition has criticized the BJP for taking advantage of schemes meant for farmers.

Mumbai: Following a controversy over a firm linked to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s wife allegedly getting a grant from the Centre, the state Congress on Thursday alleged that a company of Supriya Gavit, the daughter of state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minister Vijay Kumar Gavit, has become one of the beneficiaries of the ruling party’s agro-processing clusters scheme.

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The ministry of food processing industries sanctioned a grant of ₹10 crore under its APS scheme to Supriya’s firm – Reva Tapi Valley Industrial Development – of which 3.15 crore has also been released, Sachin Sawant, state Congress general secretary, said. He also posted the documents related to the charges and a list of beneficiaries under the APC scheme on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday. According to the document, the ₹27.06-crore project was approved on August 1, 2019.

Pointing out that Supriya is the daughter of Gavit, state tribal development minister, Sawant said, “PM Modi calls himself ‘Pradhan Sevak’, and his party people believe in the philosophy of self seva (service) first. The central government is supposed to work for the people and not for BJP ministers and their children. Isn’t this ‘Parivarwaad’ (familism)?.”

Leader of opposition Vijay Wadettiwar slammed the BJP, saying that their leaders are taking benefit of the scheme meant for the farmers.

“The BJP leaders are taking all the benefits, and this could be the reason that the income of the leaders from the saffron party increased and not of the agrarian community,” he added.