Ranchi, July 8: The BJP on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the Jharkhand government over alleged irregularities flagged in the 2021-25 Performance Audit Report of the Excise Department, claiming the lapses could have resulted in a potential revenue loss of up to Rs 20,000 crore and demanding Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s resignation on moral grounds.
Addressing a press conference, BJP state spokesperson Avinesh Kumar alleged that the Principal Accountant General (PAG) audit report had exposed serious technical and administrative irregularities in the Excise Department.
“The PAG audit report has exposed serious irregularities in the Excise Department. The government’s actions have benefited private companies and caused significant losses to the public treasury,” Kumar alleged.
According to the BJP, the audit report flagged deficiencies in liquor trade monitoring, security hologram printing, GPS tracking of liquor transport vehicles and revenue management, which the party claimed could have led to a potential loss of up to Rs 20,000 crore to the state exchequer.
Kumar alleged that security holograms affixed to liquor bottles were printed by a private vendor instead of through a government system. He further claimed that GPS systems installed on liquor transport vehicles were not functioning effectively and that several crucial documents were not made available to the audit team, adversely affecting monitoring and revenue collection.
“The questions raised in the report regarding hologram printing, GPS monitoring and the availability of documents are extremely serious and warrant an impartial investigation,” he said.
Demanding strict action against those responsible, the BJP urged the government to order an impartial probe into the alleged irregularities.
The party also asked Chief Minister Hemant Soren to explain the issue before the people and sought his resignation on moral grounds.
“If accountability is not established, the BJP will take the issue to the public,” Kumar said.
