Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Kamal Nath has accused BJP that it has sacrificed religious faith for corruption. He has raised questions regarding the defect in the main pillar of the huge statue of Adi Guru Shankaracharya built in Omkareshwar.
The Congress leader has cornered the government and said, “Under the BJP rule, be it Ujjain, Ayodhya or Omkareshwar, the story of corruption is being repeated everywhere in the name of religion. There have been reports of the main pillar of the 108 feet high statue built in the Rs 2300 crore ‘Statue of Oneness’ (Ekatmdham) project in Omkareshwar bending. Its construction standards have been ignored.”
Recently, allegations have come to light regarding technical shortcomings regarding the 108 feet high ‘Statue of Oneness’ (Ekatmadham) project of Adi Guru Shankaracharya established on the banks of Narmada in Omkareshwar. The then field director of the project, Biswajit Banerjee, has sent a complaint to the CBI, Chief Secretary of Madhya Pradesh and Lokayukta saying that safety and construction standards have not been followed in this project worth about Rs 2300 crore.
According to the complaint, the main pillar on which the entire statue is installed has been found to be leaning and its strength is not as per the prescribed standards. It was also alleged that the statue was said to be capable of withstanding winds of 140 to 170 kilometers per hour, while technical testing found its capacity to be less than that. The complaint also said that after raising these technical objections, the then Field Director of the project Biswajit Banerjee and Project Director Colonel Anupam Gupta were removed from their posts. The complaint in the case has been sent to various investigating agencies.
Kamal Nath has targeted the BJP government on this issue. He alleged that BJP has sacrificed religious faith to corruption. He has said that the construction of the Adi Guru Shankaracharya statue site in Omkareshwar, built under a project worth about Rs 2300 crore, was not done as per the prescribed technical standards. He alleged that the statue was not capable of withstanding strong winds as much as it was said to be. The former Chief Minister said that earlier irregularities had also come to light in the Mahakal Public Works of Ujjain, where the statues of Saptarishis were damaged during strong winds. The Congress leader has said that it is clear to the country that whether it is Ujjain, Ayodhya or Omkareshwar, cases of corruption in the name of religion have been coming to light in the BJP government.
