Union minister of state for agriculture Bhagirath Choudhary has rejected allegations of impropriety after an investigative report revealed that he received a subsidy of Rs 99.03 lakh for a commercial cucumber farming project under a scheme administered by his own ministry.

Choudhary said there was nothing irregular about availing the subsidy as he had been engaged in farming long before entering politics.

"I am a farmer and have been in agriculture since my childhood days. I have not hidden anything," Choudhary told ANI, adding that he had applied for the subsidy in 2018 and had publicly disclosed details of the loans and subsidies he availed for the project.

The BJP leader also said he uses the farm to train cultivators in modern agricultural practices and natural farming. "Thousands of farmers install polyhouses and avail subsidies. So, I did too," he said, maintaining that local officials had inspected the project site.

The controversy erupted after The Indian Express reported that Choudhary had secured the subsidy under a scheme overseen by the National Horticulture Board (NHB), where he serves as ex-officio vice-president by virtue of his office.

The subsidy was granted under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), a central scheme launched in 2014-15 to promote large-scale commercial cultivation of select vegetables and flowers.

Administered by the NHB, the scheme offers subsidies of up to 50 per cent of the project cost, capped at Rs 1 crore per family, for crops such as cucumber, capsicum and tomato, besides select flower varieties.

According to the NHB website, the board is headed by the Union agriculture minister as ex-officio president, while the minister of state for agriculture serves as ex-officio vice-president.

However, official records show that subsidy proposals are cleared by a separate NHB project approval committee that does not include either the board's president or vice-president.

The Indian Express report triggered a political storm, with opposition parties accusing the BJP of conflict of interest and corruption.

Congress leader Pawan Khera alleged that the BJP's claims of "zero tolerance" towards corruption had been exposed. Taking a swipe at the ruling party, he remarked, "For the BJP, subsidy begins at home."

Khera further alleged that Choudhary was "the applicant, the sanctioning authority, and the beneficiary -- all rolled into one", calling it "blatant loot".

He also highlighted that while the poor were expected to remain grateful for free rations and midday meals, ministers and their relatives were allegedly treating the public exchequer as their personal estate by cornering subsidies and other benefits. Invoking a Hindi proverb, Khera asked, “How can the crop survive if the fence itself starts devouring the field?”

CPM Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas dubbed the episode "DFT (Direct Family Transfer)" and alleged that the government had converted the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme into a mechanism benefiting those in power.

Trinamool Congress MP Sagarika Ghose linked the controversy to other recent allegations involving BJP leaders, claiming the Narendra Modi government was now "entangled in a web of controversy" and had "sprung a thousand leaks".

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also attacked the ruling party, saying the "BJP corruption model" was "unravelling by the day".

She accused government-friendly media such as television channels of ignoring corruption allegations involving the saffron party.