Chandigarh shop scam: Bansal ‘hurt’ at Sushma’s charges

“I am really hurt. The allegations against me is the product of a sick mind. They are baseless and politically motivated. The Leader of the Opposition misued her position by raising the matter against me,” he told reporters.

The minister alleged a BJP leader from Chandigarh,whom he defeated in the Lok Sabha polls,was behind the campaign against him and the leader was known to be close to Swaraj.

He said his office has written on March 8 to the Chandigarh administration making some pertinent queries about the report against him.

Meanwhile,Congress dismissed the Opposition raking up

the shop allotment controversy involving Bansal as “preposterous” and “baseless”.

“There is nothing at all in these allegations. It is baseless and preposterous. The officer,who has given the report (against Bansal),has completely gone haywire,” a senior party leader said on the condition of anonymity.

At the AICC briefing,party spokesperson Manish Tewari also downplayed the issue.

“The minister has already given a very comprehensive answer to all allegations levelled. I do not think anything further requires to be said after what he has said,” was Tewari’s refrain when asked to comment on the issue that led to repeated adjournments of both Houses in Parliament with BJP creating uproar.

The Opposition party alleged the involvement of Bansal in a shop allotment scam in Chandigarh,prompting the minister to dare the Opposition to hold any kind of inquiry,including that by the CBI.

Dubbing the charges as “baseless” and a “cheap gimmick”,Bansal said it was “an effort to vilify” him and went to the extent of saying that if any iota of charges were proved against him,he would quit Parliament forever.