'Public's rightful grain is being looted': Kharge attacks BJP over alleged MP ethanol scam

NEW DELHI: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday upped the ante against the Bharatiya Janata Party over the alleged ethanol scam in Madhya Pradesh, claiming that the state has become the epicentre of corruption and plunder under the saffron party’s government.In a social media post on X, Kharge said the public’s rightful grain was being looted with the collusion of the BJP and the government machinery.“Madhya Pradesh has today become the epicentre of corruption and plunder under the BJP government and a synonym for corruption. One scam doesn’t even end before another one surfaces,” Kharge said.“Now, a Rs 1,200 crore rice scam in the name of ethanol has come to light. The very rice that was meant to be used for the nutrition of malnourished children, pregnant women, and adolescent girls has been diverted in a game of profit. Five lakh MT of rice has become part of this corrupt game under the protection of rice millers, the ethanol mafia, and the BJP government. With the collusion of the BJP and the government machinery, the public’s rightful grain is being looted,” he added.This comes after an SIT was formed to probe a suspected racket in the state after subsidised rice meant for empanelled ethanol plants was allegedly diverted to private mills and sold back to government agencies through the procurement and custom milling system.The trigger for the criminal investigation was a Food Corporation of India (FCI) complaint about a consignment meant for an ethanol unit in Chhindwara never reaching its destination.Four people have been arrested in the case so far amid multiple complaints of the alleged diversion of rice sanctioned under an ongoing subsidy scheme to ramp up ethanol production for blending with petrol.Kharge also highlighted land-related allegations against Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav and said, “Before this, a massive land scam came to light. In Ujjain, land expansions happened in precisely those areas where government infrastructure projects and the Highway Corridor were proposed. This has raised question marks even over the Chief Minister himself. Everywhere, in every department, it’s a game of plunder and filling their own pockets—this is the story of the BJP’s loot of power.““This plunder, which began with Vyapam, hasn’t stopped even today despite countless paper leaks and innumerable cases of corruption. The BJP has turned Madhya Pradesh into a model of corruption, and, as always, Modi ji just sits there in stoic silence. The Modi-Shah duo has trampled the very concept of accountability in public life under the arrogance of power,” he added.