Jaipur, May 3 : The BJP government in Rajasthan on Friday cancelled the land auction linked to the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) project in Bikaner and Alwar, reversing the decision of the previous government led by Ashok Gehlot.

Earlier, state Minister Kirodi Lal Meena wrote a letter to Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, expressing serious objection to the auction of government lands and calling it a "scam".

The government cancelled the land auction after conducting a thorough investigation, officials said.

The previous Congress government led by Gehlot had decided to raise funds for the ERCP project by auctioning government lands.

On September 15, 2023, the Congress government decided to auction the government land at Beechwal in Bikaner and Umren in Alwar. An e-auction was also held on October 3, 2023. However, the matter got stuck after the government in the state changed.

After the BJP came to power in Rajasthan, the Central government linked the ERCP with the River Link Project and announced to provide 90 per cent of the funds required for the project. An MoU has also been signed between the Union Jal Shakti Ministry and the state government.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan BJP Spokesperson Laxmikant Bhardwaj welcomed Chief Minister Sharma's move to cancel land auctions and termed it a "historic decision".

"The conspiracy hatched by the previous Congress government to hastily sell land worth crores at throwaway prices has been exposed. The transparent BJP government in the state has given yet another tough blow to the corruption and scams of the previous Congress government," he said.

/IANS