Gurdaspur MP accuses DC of buying paddy below MSP
The ongoing confrontation between Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and DC Uma Shankar Gupta flared up yet again with the former claiming that the latter was “violating government norms by procuring paddy at rates below the MSP”.
The development assumes significance as the DC is also the District Election Officer of Gurdaspur. The Dera Baba Nanak Assembly seat, where a bypoll is slated for November 20, is a part of the district.
Randhawa’s wife Jatinder Kaur is the Congress candidate.
The MP, in a letter to the Chairman of the FCI, said, “Paddy was being procured at Rs 2,100 per quintal against the MSP of Rs 2,320.”
Gupta reacted by saying that “the MP was mentally harassing him by levelling frivolous and totally unsubstantiated allegations”. He added, “I have read the letter. There is nothing on record to prove the accusations levelled by the MP are correct.”
The MP and the DC have both have had disagreements on key issues.
A few weeks ago, the MP had claimed that the officer did not observe proper protocol during a meeting of the District Vigilance and Monitoring Committee. The DC had denied the allegations. “I was there to accord a welcome to the MP. I have always observed protocol and maintained decorum,” he had stated.
In the run-up to the panchayat elections, top Congress leaders had accompanied Randhawa to the DC office. They had gone to register a protest against the “wrongfully rejection of nomination papers of Congress candidates”. The officer had rejected the charges that his administration was being biased.
