Tribal Welfare Minister of Tripura Bikash Debbarma vehemently refuted the corruption allegations raised against him. The Minister blamed Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman for levelling corruption charges against him. Denying the allegations, Debbarma told the Congress MLA to apologize within 48 hours. If Roy Barman fails to do so, the Minister warned that he might lodge a defamation case against Roy Barman.
However, Sudip Roybarman did not budge. In reply to the Minister’s warning of filing a defamation case, Roybarman said he is ready to meet the Minister in the Court.
Speaking at a press conference in Agartala on Saturday, Tribal Welfare Minister Bikash Debbarma termed the corruption allegations against him as ‘false’ and fabricated’.
Notably the controversy surfaced in the recent monsoon session of the State Assembly. During a discussion, Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman smelt gross financial irregularities in the World Bank funded Rs 1400 crore “Tripura Rural Economic Growth and Service Delivery Project (TRESP)” of which the Tribal Welfare department is the Nodal department. Roybarman alleged the simple-minded tribal people of the State for whom the project initiated were deprived of benefits due to massive corruption.
| Read earlier report: Cong alleges huge corruption in Tribal Welfare Department |
During the discussion, Roybarman jokingly referred to his ‘posh’ house in New Delhi and houses in Tripura as well as petrol pumps owned by Debbarma’s relatives. To give a reply on the wealth and property issue, Bikash Debbarma stood up in the Assembly but was refrained from doing so by one of his colleagues.
The corruption slur snowballed into a serious issue even after the Assembly session was over. Several allegations and reports on properties owned by the Minister and his relatives raised many an eyebrow.
Finally, the Minister appeared before the press today to ‘give’ a reply to the allegations raised against him. However, he did not talk about corruption allegations in the TRESP during the press meeting as he elaborately listed properties he owned even before entering politics.
He claimed that he was a contractor for nearly 25 years before his political career. Besides, he is the owner of the vast property of his ancestors. “I had two houses in Agartala before I became a Minister. I entered politics to serve the poor Tribal people”, Debbarma said.
He also lamented that Roybarman wanted to ruin his political career. According to him, Roybarman has a fixed notion that tribal people can never be businessmen. The Minister alleged, the Congress has never wanted the development of tribal communities. That’s why the people of Tripura have bid farewell to the Congress forever.
Before signing off, the Tribal Welfare Minister reiterated his challenge to the Congress MLA.
(Tripura, Tripura News)
