Eknath Khadse mistook anti-rodent tablets for rats: BJP

The government said the payment made to a private agency was for the 3.19 lakh anti-rodent tablets at a rate of Rs1.50 for each tablet.

A day after former revenue minister and senior Bhartiya Janata Party leader Eknath Khadse rocked the state assembly by alleging that the government killed 3.19 lakh rats at its administrative headquarters in just seven days, the ruling party ridiculed him saying he mistook the number of anti-rodent tablets for rats.

Khadse had referred to the RTI information on Thursday indirectly alleging a scam in the state secretariat. (FILE)

The government said the payment made to a private agency was for the 3.19 lakh anti-rodent tablets at a rate of Rs1.50 for each tablet. It said that the reply to the query raised under the Right To Information Act, too, clarified this.

Khadse had referred to the RTI information on Thursday indirectly alleging a scam in the state secretariat. He further said this rat poison was used by farmer Dharma Patil to commit suicide outside Mantralaya. “This procedure has been followed for years, even during the Congress rule. We don’t keep a count of the rats killed,’’ said an official from PWD.

BJP spokesperson and legislator Ram Kadam said, “The contract that was referred to in the Assembly was signed with the agency for the supply of the tablets and not to kill the rats.”

The RTI information was obtained by Raju Khare, a resident of Pandharpur in Solapur district. On the basis of this information, another BJP MLA Charan Waghmare had written to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis alleging a scam by the PWD officials. “Neither proper procedure has been filed nor have the reports about the rats and the measures for their eradication been kept by the department. There is no proper record of the disposal of the killed rats. A thorough probe needs to be carried out,” he wrote.