Published On : Thu, Sep 8th, 2016

Minister’s two confidants bay for each other’s blood over tender pie

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Kamptee Nagar Parishad
Nagpur: When it comes to money matter, best of the friends turn foes. Two prominent business families of Kamptee, who were rubbing each other’s shoulders and also treading the same path along with a high-profile BJP Minister, have now suddenly turned adversaries of each other. The reason: The two business families want to grab larger share of the tender pie the Kamptee Nagar Parishad is offering them to. If both the confidants of the Minister fail to sink their differences over money, the coming Nagar Parishad elections could witness a turn around with Opposition grabbing the power on easy footing.

According to sources, the Public Works Department of Kamptee Nagar Parishad has floated tenders for construction of cement concrete road. But the issuing of tenders has put the Public Works Department and Nagar Parishad face to face for obvious reasons. Both the Minister’s confidants – Ajju Vijayverghese Brothers and Ajju Agrawal – have now jumped in the ring to grab the tenders. The contest saw Ajju Agrawal bagging the contract with the advantage being the “First Lowest” bidder. The contract went 16 to 22 percent “low.” The cement road is being constructed at a cost of around Rs 15 crore and it is relatively big money. The road will be built from Railway Bridge to Dragon Palace.

The bone of contention between the Public Works Department and Kamptee Nagar Parishad is that the PWD before floating tenders should have first sent the proposal to the local body for approval. It was obviously not done.

Notably, the tender has turned out to be the flash point between the two business families – Ajju Vijayverghese and Ajju Agrawal – who once were friends and confidants of the Minister. The minister, at the moment, is maintaining a studied silence over the bickering between his right and left hands. Could he be waiting for the right time to strike at.

– Rajeev Ranjan Kushwaha (rajeev.nagpurtoday@gmail.com)