Congress alleges land scam under CM Fadnavis’s rule

The Congress in Maharashtra has alleged a 1,700 crore land scam in Navi Mumbai and has also alleged that the CMO was in cahoots with the scamsters.

Addressing a Press conference in Mumbai on Monday, senior Congress leader and former CM Prithviraj Chavan along with Sanjay Nirupam alleged that deal was done to favor a builder who is close to BJP legislator Prasad lad. The BJP and Lad have dismissed the allegations. Lad has also threatened to file a defamation suit of 500 crores against the Congress leaders. Prithviraj Chavan said, “- On 26th Feb 2018, 24 acres of prime land near proposed Navi Mumbai Airport was transferred to 8 project affected families of Koyana dam. This land owned by CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation) was promptly transferred to project affected people and within few days sold to a private builder. The market cost of the land is anywhere close to 1700 crore but was sold by the project oustees to the private builder at a cost of 3 crores.”

Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam alleged that the files related to the land moved at lightning speed indicating that the deal was taking place with the blessings of ‘someone at the top in Urban Development department’. “The land was allotted on 26th February 2018. Survey of the land was conducted on 11th May 2018. On 14th May 2018 in just one working day the survey is completed, mutation entry is changed, builder Sanjay Bhalerao gets the Power of Attorney of 8 families who got the land. The next day sale deed of the land is executed,” Nirupam explained. Nirupam alleged that Paradise Builders’ Manish Bhatija and Sanjay Bhalerao who bought the land at pittance are close friends of BJP legislator Prasad Lad. Lad is an close aide of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The CIDCO comes under the Urban Development Department, which is held by Fadnavis himself.

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Congress has also accused that the said land was reserved for a Central Park – Phase 2 and cannot be denotified. Prithviraj Chavan said that it was surprising that the CIDCO did not object to the denotification of the land. Congress Spokesperson Randeep Surjewala has demanded a judicial probe into the matter. “If the govt fails to initiate a judicial probe we will be taking the legal route and file Litigation in the Bombay High Court,” Surjewala said.

The BJP has denied all the allegations saying that the Congress is desperate and is making allegations with a political motive. “In the first place the land does not belong to CIDCO, so there is no question of the Urban Development Department or the Chief Minister’s office. Secondly. the allotments to PAPs were made as per the law. the objections to the allotment have been cleared already by the Bombay High court following a litigation in this regard. Moreover, this is not the first instance where PAPs have sold the land allotted to them,” said BJP Spokesperson Madhav Bhandari. Prasad Lad agreed that he knew the builders in question (Manish Bhatija and Sanjay Bhalerao) and was friends with them. “I have been the Chairman of the MHADA and have known several builders since then. That doesn’t mean that they should not do their business. The entire allegations are baseless and I am going to file a defamation suit against Nirupam, Chavan, and Surjewala in a day or two,” Lad said.