After Pankaja Munde, another Maharashtra minister Vinod Tawde now faces allegations of corruption after the state finance department objected to a Rs 191 crore contract for fire extinguishers in state schools awarded without inviting an e-tender was reported on Tuesday. The contract, cleared by the powerful Education Minister of the state, has been put on hold after the finance department's objection. The contract was given for installing 62,105 fire extinguishers in Zila Parishad schools across Maharashtra. However, Tawde told reporters on Tuesday that there were no irregularities in the decision. "Not a single rupee has been paid to contractors," the minister said. "We stopped the order immediately after the Finance Department raised objections," he added. The Devendra Fadnavis government also dismissed the allegations. "This is an old file. The objections were raised by the finance department and the contract was stopped. I'm amazed why questions are being raised about a deal that was stopped," Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said. BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said, "You cannot taint people just on the basis of allegations. Show proof." But the opposition was not persuaded. "How did minister Vinod Tawde order 62105 fire extinguishers without tenders? It is absolutely wrong," Aam Aadmi Party's Anjali Damania said. "The BJP MLAs are recovering the election money through such scams," she alleged. The controversy came days after Maharashtra Minister for Women and Child Welfare Development Pankaja Munde was accused of alleged irregularities in awarding contracts worth Rs 206 crore with the opposition Congress demanding a CBI probe in the matter.
