LUCKNOW, Sept 19: Chief Minister Kalyan Singh's allegation that the letter sent by him to the Prime Minister seeking financial aid to cope with the flash floods had been misplaced by the PMO has triggered a controversy in political circles here.Kalyan baiters within the BJP term the allegation as an affront to the PMO. The Chief Minister has demanded a probe into the ``missing'' letter and has alleged that he had information that an official in the PMO had done the ``mischievous work.''The allegation was made by the Chief Minister at a meeting of party legislators and allies at his residence on Thursday evening. The Chief Minister was reacting to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's remarks last week at Gorakhpur during an aerial survey of the flood-affected districts. The Prime Minister had said that the State Government had not sent a memorandum to the Centre seeking financial aid.According to sources close to the Prime Minister, the letter sent by the Chief Minister cannot be a substitute for amemorandum since the Planning Commission releases money only on the basis of information furnished in the memorandum.This has put the Chief Minister in an embarrassing situation as he has been claiming that a request had been made to the Centre to release contingency funds to cope with the trail of destruction left by the worst-ever floods in the State.A memorandum was hurriedly prepared and presented to the Prime Minister during the press meet at Raj Bhawan the next day. The State Government had sought 1000 crores aid while the Prime Minister announced an immediate assistance of 200 crores at Gorakhpur.Seeking to end the controversy, the PMO today in a statement said the Chief Minister talked to the Prime Minister before his tour of the State on September 10 several times over phone informing him about the situation and the need for assistance. The Prime Minister's Office claims the Prime Minister had received two letters from Kalyan informing him about the flood situation and seekingassistance.The PMO said that the Prime Minister during his visit to UP in fact had expressed his satisfaction about efforts put in by the State government machinery in meeting the situation.It said the PM's statement offering deputation of a Central team to the State had been misinterpreted as the Prime Minister's expression of unhappiness over the delay in submission of a memorandum by the State government. The CM, however, took strong objection to a paragraph in the press release distributed at the Prime Minister's meet at Gorakhpur. ``We have not received any memorandum from the State for assistance under the National Fund for Calamity in respect of the heavy rains/floods and landslides,'' the press release had said.The Chief Minister has sought an inquiry as to who added these lines in the handout. The Opposition parties have lapped up the issue. ``If the Chief Minister's charges are correct then what will happen to other important files and documents in the PMO?,'' asked Ram Sharan Das, StateSamajwadi Party chief today.Congress Legislature party leader Pramod Tiwari said claims and counter-claims on the issue and that too involving the PMO and the Chief Minister had made a mockery of the Bharatiya Janata Party Government at the Centre as well as in the State.
