Congress accuses govt of operating in ‘mafia style’ with stealthy officer transfers

The Congress insisted on the immediate cancellation of transfer orders and the return of officers to the CAG. Additionally, the party called for decisive action to be taken regarding the major scams concerning Dwarka Expressway, Bharatmala, and Ayushman Bharat, which came to light during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday slammed the BJP-led Centre for transferring three officers of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), saying it operates ‘mafia style’ under a cloak of silence and intimidation, and if anyone exposes its modus operandi of corruption, they are threatened or removed.

The Congress also demanded that the transfer orders should be cancelled immediately and the officers returned to the CAG. The party also demanded that action must be taken in the mega scams relating to Dwarka Expressway, Bharatmala and Ayushman Bharat, which were highlighted during the Parliament’s Monsoon Session.

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In a post on X, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “The Modi government operates mafia style under a cloak of silence and intimidation. If anyone exposes its modus operandi of corruption, they are threatened or removed. The latest victims are three officers of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), who exposed massive scams in government schemes in a report tabled during the Monsoon Session of Parliament.”

He said that the CAG report showed scams across infrastructure and social schemes.

“It documented 1,400 per cent cost inflation and tendering irregularities in the Dwarka Expressway, in addition to a diversion of Rs 3,600 crore from highways projects, faulty bidding practices, and 60 per cent cost inflation of Bharatmala scheme. Not only that, an audit of the Ayushman Bharat scheme showed lakhs of claims made to dead patients and at least 7.5 lakh beneficiaries linked to a single mobile number,” the Congress leader said.

“Now, the three CAG officers in charge of reporting on the Ayushman Bharat and Dwarka Expressway scams have been transferred to hide the blatant corruption in the Modi Government, despite the fact that the CAG is supposed to be an independent body. We demand that these transfer orders should be cancelled immediately, the officers return to the CAG and action must be taken on these mega scams relating to Dwarka Expressway, Bharatmala and Ayushman Bharat,” said Ramesh, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP.

He also attached a news report highlighting the transfer of officers of the CAG — including three who were coincidentally involved with and in charge of two of the 12 key audit reports that were presented in Parliament during the monsoon session.