Sometimes a cup of tea can prove to be costly, even if its not a ‘Boston Tea Party.’ The Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is finding out this to his cost as the Mumbai Congress led by MRCC President Sanjay Nirupam has accused him of being embroiled in a tea scam.

“The Chief Minister is lying on the tea scam,” Sanjay Nirupam stated — after alleging that Fadnavis’s response is full of ‘loopholes and lies’ — and then following it up a day later with a letter to the Chief Minister,seeking an internal inquiry on the entire issue.

Nirupam said, “The Chief Minister says that this is the overall expense that has been spent on bouquets, shawls, coconuts which were given during felicitations, whereas the RTI was specifically for tea and snacks. So why is the Chief Minister clubbing articles like bouquets, shawls and coconuts as well?”

Pointing out that a former Congress Chief Minister had revealed that the tea and snacks expenses of the CMO have always been in lakhs, he expressed curiosity about “how the expenses suddenly rose to Rs. 3.4 Crore in 2017-18 from Rs 57, 99,150 in 2015-16?” +Fadnavis’ statement lacked authenticity and seemed to be a desperate attempt just to cover up the truth because the expense has increased by 577% — which equals to more than 18,500 cups of tea every single day,+ he said.

“What kind of tea is Devendra Fadnavis drinking? We have heard of green tea, yellow tea and so on. But the CM seems to be drinking some kind of expensive +golden tea.+ I can’t imagine that when farmers are dying in Maharashtra on a daily basis, there seems to be an unprecedented expense on teas of 577%.”

Pointing at the existing corruption in the BJP Govt, an agitated Sanjay Nirupam said, “On one hand, the Prime Minister takes great pride in saying that he was a ‘Chaiwala’. Clearly, Devendra Fadnavis has taken this a bit too far since the ‘chai’ he is drinking cannot be sold at a regular tea stall. Both the PM and the Maharashtra CM are taking the country for a ride in the name of chai.”

Last week, the Fadnavis Government had been deeply embarrassed by a +rat scam+ when the Opposition charged the Government for inflating figures of rat killings.

 However, The Mumbai congress chief is demanding more. “I would like the Chief Minister and his office to give a break-up expense of exactly how many cups of teas were consumed at Sahyadri Guest House, Hyderabad House, Varsha Bungalow, Nagpur Office and the Chief Minister’s office. The CMO is trying to deceive people by saying that this includes everything. But we need a break-up. If there is transparency and if the CM is saying that we are making these claims, then why not give us a break-up if they have nothing to hide?” he queried.

Sanjay Nirupam had earlier furnished RTI documents, which clearly showed that in the past two years, the tea consumption has increased by 577% . The RTI document clearly says that the Chief Minister’s Office has spent Rs. 3.4 Crores on tea and snacks.

Highlighting the fact that budgetary allocation on various development schemes in Maharashtra have been reduced by 30% in the 2018-19 budget due to huge financial crisis in the state, “how can the Chief Minister afford such exorbitant expenses over tea and snack in his own office,” Nirupam said, adding “I strongly feel that taxpayers need to know whether their money is being looted.”