Raipur: Chhattisgarh health minister Shyam Bihari Jaiswal on Friday kicked up a row claiming some articles were missing from the official bungalow allotted to him in Raipur, the statement evoking a sharp reaction from previous occupant and Congress leader Shiv Kumar Dahariya who said it was an attempt to defame him.
The Bharatiya Janata Party formed government in the state following its win in the November Assembly polls, and Jaiswal was allotted Public Health and Family Welfare, Medical Education and Twenty Point Implementation departments in a cabinet expansion on December 22. Without naming anyone, Jaiswal said a probe will be carried out over the missing items. The bungalow, C-2 in Shankar Nagar here, was allotted to minister Shiv Kumar Dahariya in the previous Congress government under Bhupesh Baghel.
During inspection of the bungalow, items like air-conditioner, telephone, lights, bathroom mirror, taps and kitchen platform were missing, while walls had been damaged in some places, Jaiswal told reporters on Thursday. "It seems like the Mughals attacked India and damaged our temples and took out gems and all the gold and silver embedded in them. In a similar way, theft has been committed in the official residence (allotted to him)," he alleged.
Hitting back, Dahariya on Friday said, "Before making such a statement, the minister should have asked the Public Works Department or, if required, he should have asked me. I have got NOC (no objection certificate) from all the relevant departments before leaving the residence." "Can't I take away my personal belongings? I had installed two-three ACs in my room. I had installed a TV there. My child plays cricket. The cricket shed was installed there by me, not by the PWD," Dahariya claimed.
Dahariya said Jaiswal was defaming a leader who belongs to the Scheduled Caste and must apologise. Reacting to Dahariya's statement, the minister said he had not accused anyone, adding it (missing items) was a matter of investigation.
