Jaipur: As CBI takes over ambulance scam, former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot and other members of the Congress party comes into the scanner.
Ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last year said that Congress Party leaders should be willing to undergo a CBI probe for their alleged involvement in an ambulance scam.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje earlier asked for an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the ambulance scam.
Rajasthan Health Minister Rajendra Rathore accused Congress was finally facing a kind of probe it had frequented on other parties, when in power.
“This is in the nature of the Congress. They had framed a lot of people in fake encounters and would involve the CBI and make a lot of noise about it. They should not have a problem if any institution or the CBI is involved in investigation, rather they should welcome it,” he said.
Other leaders who have been named in the scam include Sachin Pilot, Ravi Krishna, and son of former Cabinet minister, Vayalar Ravi and former finance minister, P Chidambaram’s son, Karti Chidambaram, among others.
The scam dates back to 2009 when Krishna’s company, Ziqita Health Care Limited got the tender to run the 108 ambulance service, which was a part of the union government’s National Rural Health Mission and a public-private partnership.
BJP in 2012 alleged that Krishna’s company paid money for ambulances which were on record only on paper. An audit report followed and financial irregularities were found but no action was taken. Pilot and Karti Chidambaram had been directors in Ziqita, which further complicated matters.