Barmer, May 4 -- The Pachpadra refinery fire in Rajasthan has snowballed into a major political controversy, with Congress leader Harish Chaudhary and Barmer MP Ummedaram Beniwal stepping up sharp attacks on the state government over the handling of the incident, the investigation process and alleged inconsistencies in official statements. The fire broke out on April 20 at a unit of HPCL Rajasthan Refinery Limited (HRRL) in Balotra, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to inaugurate the project. The controversy intensified after Rajasthan chief secretary V Srinivas said during a media interaction that the investigation into the fire is being carried out by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), and that both construction and repair work involved teams from Larsen & Toubro (L&T). Srinivas said he had been informed that the damage was "minor" and that repair work is expected to be completed by the second or third week of May. Former minister and MLA from Baytoo assembly constituency Harish Choudhary said: "When a central agency like the NIA is probing such a serious incident, on what basis is the state government indicating reasons behind the fire even before the investigation is complete? This raises serious concerns about whether the process is being influenced". Meanwhile, Barmer MP Ummedaram Beniwal questioned the decision to allow the investigation to be conducted internally by HPCL, which is directly linked to the refinery project. He said this raises key concerns about impartiality. "If the organisation associated with the project itself is conducting the probe, how can fairness, transparency and accountability be ensured? It is natural for doubts to arise," he said. Reacting to the opposition's allegations, former minister and BJP leader Ashraf Ali Khilji said, "The state government is taking the incident seriously and all necessary steps are being taken to ascertain the cause of the fire. Technical experts are already on the job, and there is no question of compromising on transparency or safety."...