New Delhi, Jul 5 (DHNS): After Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Vasundhara Raje, the Congress on Saturday trained its guns on Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, claiming to have fresh proof linking him to the Rs 36,000-crore rice scam in the state.

Renewing its attack on Singh, the main Opposition demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the scam, from which Singh’s wife Veena and sister-in-law Renuka reportedly benefited.

“In the garb of providing rice at Re 1 per kg under PDS, Raman Singh created a well-oiled corruption machine in connivance with rice mill owners, PDS shop owners and public officials to earn thousands of crores as kickbacks and commission,” AICC spokesman Ajay Maken, with Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel, told reporters here.

The renewed attack on Singh is part of the Congress' strategy to highlight allegations on corruption in BJP-ruled states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

This is being seen as an attempt by the Congress to puncture Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim of zero tolerance towards corruption.

Maken said there were similar instances of corruption in the procurement of other commodities like salt, gram, kerosene and wheat through the state civil supplies corporation.

Magnitude of the scam

He said the scam's magnitude could be gauged from the fact that during the past 11 years of BJP rule in Chhattisgarh, the amount spent by the public exchequer on procurement of paddy, as also procurement and supply of various PDS items through the state civil supplies corporation comes to Rs 1.5 lakh crore approximately.

The faction-ridden Congress has been out of power in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh for nearly 12 years, and is making great efforts for a comeback.

In the past few weeks, the Congress has levelled allegations of impropriety against External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje for helping former IPL ex-chief Lalit Modi procure travel documents in the UK.

Chouhan is under fire from the Congress for reported irregularities in recruitment in the MP government for various professional posts — widely known as the Vyapam scam.