Fire episode at Satpura Bhawan in Bhopal before Assembly elections in the State has raised several questions among social circles and gave a reason to the Opposition parties to take on the Government. Congress demanded a judicial inquiry in the incident while Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) smelt conspiracy terming it could be an attempt to hide alleged wrong doings.Opposition leaders alleged that the fire at Satpura Bhavan was either a conspiracy or evidence of rampant corruption/scams be removed? K K Mishra, President of Pradesh Congress Media Department, who around 15 days back already expressed apprehension that the campaign of setting fire to Government offices may be started soon in the State.

 

After Monday’s incident of massive fire at Satpura Bhawan, Mishra threw a series of questions alleging that ever since the Shivraj government came to power in the State, the fire incidents occur only in the creamy ministries, importantly before the Assembly elections? Why not before the Lok Sabha elections?, he questioned. Pointing towards the State Government’s ill intentions, Atul Sharma from Aam Aadmi Party has raised the query that was it just an incident of fire or was intentional? Before losing power, the evidence of all the irregularities and scams has been erased? Taking a jibe over self-reliant claims by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on many occasions, Mishra asked “If the Army has to be called to extinguish the fire in the ministries of the State capital, then how is the State self-sufficient? Congress MLA Jitu Patwari Tweeted, “CM Chouhan, my direct question is, whether the fire breaks out or has it been set? Because it is generally believed that the Government does such ‘action’ to destroy the evidence before the elections. Now, the BJP should also tell who were the culprits in the old fire incident. How many people were punished?”

 

Citing examples of the British Army’s defensive mechanism, Mishra said that it is like a retreating army destroying their pill boxes. This is a sponsored fire incident, because the people responsible for the rampant corruption in the state have now realised that the exit of the present state government is certain in the upcoming assembly elections. Therefore, the documents related to corruption should be completely destroyed through such sponsored tactics.

Mishra said that if the sponsored fire in the second floor of the Satpura building in the state capital Bhopal reaches the sixth floor after a few hours, despite the well-publicised fire extinguishing engines, there is no management, the army has to be called in. What will be the condition of fire services in other districts? Mishra has sought answers Why all the documents caught fire were related to Vyapam, Transport, Health, Ayushman, NHM, scams during the corona period. Does the Government want to hide the scams and corruption through sponsored flames? Government was more concerned and focused about forming a committee to investigate the cause of the fire instead of extinguishing it. What is the reason for this haste?

 

Reacting to State Home Minister Dr Narottam Mishra’s statement that the files burnt by fire are not important. Congress leaders point out that NHM official Priyanka Das’ statement, who has said that all important documents have been burnt to ashes contradicts Home Minister’s claim. Mishra alleged that burnt documents belong to the pending cases in the High Court, Lokayukta and EOW. K K Mishra linked the fire with the theft incident which had occurred at his residence in the month of April, He alleged “this fire is also related to the theft of a license revolver from my residence on April 14 and a file related to corruption of Rs 250 crore in the Health Department, because the Government was aware that this file was a big deal. It is linked to corruption, it is suspected that this fire may have destroyed it as well. Otherwise, what was the reason why the thief targeted some rupees, the said file and the license revolver only, left other belongings at my house. The papers of corruption related to crores of rupees in Shri Mahakal Lok can also be burnt in the same way, so that the evidence is destroyed, so security should be ensured, he demanded. He has demanded that the Governor should ensure the accountability of the officers for this and a judicial inquiry should be conducted. Former Pradesh Congress Committee President (PCC) chief Arun Yadav tweeted, “In Jabalpur, when Priyanka Gandhiji was making attack on scams in her speech, a huge fire broke out in the Satpura Bhawan where important files were burnt to ashes.” “Whether it is a conspiracy to burn the documents of scams on the pretext of fire? This fire incident indicates a change in Madhya Pradesh,” he added.