A purported video of former Uttarakhand chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat has surfaced online, in which he is seen saying that no work can be done in the state without commission.
The undated video purportedly shows the BJP leader sitting in a room and lamenting about “commissioning” in the state.
“Even though I have been a chief minister and might not say this, I have no hesitation in admitting that when we broke away from Uttar Pradesh, there was a commission of up to 20 per cent for doing public works there.
“After separation, it should have come down to zero here but the practice continued and we started with 20 per cent,” says Rawat.
The hill state was carved out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000.
The BJP MP from Pauri said, “I have been told that one cannot do anything here (Uttarakhand) without paying a certain percentage of commission.”
“Commission-cheating was a practice prevalent in Uttar Pradesh and unfortunately, it continues in Uttarakhand,” he said.
Rawat, however, said that no one in particular could be held responsible. “It is a mindset. It will go away only when we start considering our state as our family. BJP is in power in Uttar Pradesh as well as in Uttarakhand.
The former chief minister is no stranger to controversies.
In March last year, Rawat had said that due to lack of manners, youths follow strange fashion trends and consider themselves big shots by wearing jeans torn at the knees and women also follow such trends.
He then described the dress of a woman who was sitting next to him on a flight. He described her as wearing shoes, jeans torn at the knees, bangles in her hands and two children traveling with her. He had said that the woman runs an NGO, goes out into the society and thinks what value she will give to her children.
Within days, he stirred another controversy, saying “America enslaved”. India for 200 years”.
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