Bhupesh Baghel proposes law to acquire college owned by son-in-law’s kin: Report

Piyush Goyal accused the state government of misusing public money for acquiring a debt-ridden

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel-led Chhattisgarh government is planning to take over a financially-strapped medical college owned by his daughter's in-laws.

A Bill proposes to acquire the privately-owned Chandulal Chandrakar Memorial Medical College in Durg, which was built in the memory of Chandulal Chandrakar, a Congress leader and a five-term Lok Sabha MP from Durg, according to a report by The Indian Express.

DH couldn't independently verify the report.

Baghel's daughter Divya is married to Kshitij Chandrakar, whose father Vijay Chandrakar is the younger brother of Mangal Prasad Chandrakar, the Director of CCMH.

The proposed bill says the hospital requested the state government to acquire the college since it was in “financial difficulties”.

Baghel had announced on February 2, “The work to acquire the private hospital under the government will start soon.”

According to the draft Bill, the state government will be undertaking a valuation exercise of the movable and immovable assets of the college and pay the amount to CCMH.

Accusing the government of nepotism, Amit Chandraker, grandson of Chandulal Chandrakar’s elder brother told the publication, “The Chief Minister is trying to benefit his (daughter’s) in-laws by making a new law."

Hitting out at the Baghel government, Union Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted, “The Congress family has a vast history of corruption. Misusing public money for acquiring a debt-ridden college is sheer fraud. The hard-earned money of the people of Chhattisgarh is not for offering corruption, but for the development of the state."