Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 11: The BJP on Saturday escalated its attack on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on a purported “leaked” report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) which is claimed to have projected a revenue loss of ₹2,026 crores to the state exchequer due to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government’s excise policy.
The BJP leader Anurag Thakur told a press conference on Saturday that the AAP government deliberately did not table the CAG report in the Assembly to hide its misdeeds. He claimed that the CAG has arrived at 10 major findings about the policy, which was scrapped by the AAP government amid a row, asserting that former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will have to answer the questions it has raised. “He will have to say who pocketed the money,” Mr Thakur said, alleging that Mr Kejriwal was the kingpin of the scam.
The AAP, however, immediately bunked the report regarding the city’s controversial excise policy. Questioning the authenticity of the report, the AAP leader and MP Sanjay Singh asked whether the alleged findings were made at the BJP office.
The CAG report has not been officially released.
The report, which allegedly outlines major lapses and violations under the leadership of Mr Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, has triggered a fresh row ahead of the February 5 Delhi Assembly elections.
The purported CAG report parts of which have been put on the public domain by the BJP, alleges that the Delhi government’s Excise Policy caused a loss of over Rs 2,026 crore to the state including Rs 890 crore due to the failure to re-tender surrendered retail liquor licenses. An additional loss of Rs 941 crore allegedly stemmed from exemptions granted to zonal licensees.
Key approvals from the Lieutenant Governor (LG), the Cabinet, and the Assembly were allegedly bypassed. The report further claims that the Group of Ministers (GoM) led by Manish Sisodia ignored recommendations from an expert panel. The BJP has seized on the alleged findings, accusing the AAP government of gross corruption and mismanagement.
“If their (AAP) policies were so good then why were they taken aback? Today AAP has no answer to Delhi’s broken roads, dirty water in homes, rising electricity bills, mountains of garbage and pollution. Today the people of Delhi want to be free from ‘AAP-da’,” BJP leader Anurag Thakur said.
Questioning the authenticity of the purported CAG report, the AAP MP Sanjay Singh asked, “Where is the CAG report? Do you have a copy? Is it made at the BJP office? The BJP is scared. They have become mentally unstable. We cannot respond to everything. On one hand, they are saying the CAG report has not been tabled, but on the other, they say it has been released. What do they mean?” Mr Singh asked.
The Congress has also joined the attack with the Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav criticising the delay in tabling the CAG report in the Assembly and alleging that this indicated a deal between the BJP and AAP to suppress the report. Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit called the policy a “clear scam” and accused the Kejriwal government of draining government funds.
The BJP president J P Nadda on a post on X claimed that the CAG report has exposed intentional lapses, leading to a loss of ₹2,026 crore loss to the exchequer. “Intoxicated by power, high on miss-governance, the ‘AAP’DA model of loot in full display and that too on something like liquor.” He said it was just a matter of a few weeks before the AAP government was voted out and punished for its misdeeds.
He alleged, “CAG Report on ‘Liquorgate’ exposes @ArvindKejriwal and @AamAadmiParty Gov. Intentional ‘Lapses’ in Policy Implementation. Rs 2026 Cr Loss to Exchequer money.” The then chief minister Kejriwal and his deputy and excise minister Manish Sisodia were arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the case of alleged corruption in framing the excise policy, which was later scrapped. Both were released on bail after spending months behind bars.
The said CAG report has not been officially released as yet but its purported content have been reported in some sections of the media.
At his press conference, Mr Thakur asked who will be the chief ministerial face of the AAP as it has been left with no “honest face.” He said “Arvind Kejriwal cannot become the Chief Minister.” BJP leaders have often suggested that the Supreme Court’s bail conditions for Kejriwal in the excise case rule him out for the job.
The former Union Minister said the AAP’s journey over the last 10 years was of scams and sins. It has delivered liquor scam and “sheesh mahal” instead of fulfilling the promises related to schools, sanitation and self-government. Its eight ministers and 15 MLAs ended up in jail, he said, adding that Mr Kejriwal and Mr Sisodia were also incarcerated.
The CAG, he said, has fixed accountability, putting the AAP government in the dock for ignoring expert opinion, allowing bidding despite complaints, not penalising violations and not following transparency in framing the excise policy.
Mr Kejriwal used to demand the arrest of Sonia Gandhi 11 years back for various scams and is now evading replies in the cases of corruption involving his party, Mr Thakur said. The AAP rose on the basis of reports of various constitutional institutions, he said, in an apparent reference to their critical references to some of the policies of the previous UPA government at the Centre. They are now raising questions on these institutions, he said.
Mr Kejriwal, meanwhile, on Saturday challenged the BJP leader Ramesh Bidhuri to a public debate, claiming that the former MP was set to be the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate for the Delhi assembly election. Addressing a press conference, Mr Kejriwal said, “We are getting information that Ramesh BIdhuri’s name will be officially announced as the BJP CM face in the coming one or two days.” He questioned the BJP leader’s contributions to Delhi’s development during his tenure as an MP, asking, “Ramesh Bidhuri should tell what he did for the development of Delhi while being an MP. What is his vision for Delhi?”
He also proposed a public debate between the chief ministerial candidates of BJP and AAP, stating, “After the official announcement of his name, there should be a debate between the CM candidates of BJP and AAP in front of the people of Delhi.”
The BJP Central Election Committee (CEC) held a crucial meeting on Friday to finalise the remaining candidates for the Delhi assembly election scheduled for February 5. Bottom of Form
The meeting, which took place at the BJP headquarters, saw the participation of key leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, and defence minister Rajnath Singh, along with several prominent Delhi BJP leaders.