Delhi: BJP makes fresh graft charges against AAP govt, claims tenders awarded for 'fictitious' project sites

Addressing a joint press conference on Wednesday, the BJP's Delhi chief Virendraa Sachdeva and the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, RS Bidhuri, alleged irregularities in the awarding of tenders by the Flood and Irrigation Department and also in the payments made to contractors, in what they claimed was a fresh 'expose' against the AAP government.

Claiming that the scourge of corruption had pervaded every department of the Delhi government, Sachdeva alleged that in light of the BJP bringing the tendering and other scams in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to the fore over the last couple of weeks, the AAP regime, under the leadership of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, was now trying to spread the illusion of a water crisis in the national capital to stall or delay the investigation in the matter.

He said the Delhi BJP, at all levels, was striving to uncover the alleged corruption in several departments of the Delhi government.

Demanding a high-level probe into the alleged misdeeds across departments, the BJP's Delhi chief said the 'corruption' in the Irrigation and Flood Department is no 'small matter' and part of a larger conspiracy to 'loot' public money.

The Delhi BJP chief alleged further that there were four instances of 'manipulation' in the tendering process, adding that 'under pressure' from a minister in the Kejriwal government, bills were 'faked' and payments made from the public exchequer without any work being done on the ground.

Bringing all four alleged instances of scams in the flood department to the fore at the joint press conference, the BJP leaders showed purported video clips to support claims that no work was done at the DJB project sites as claimed by the government.

The BJP's Delhi chief alleged further that 95 per cent payment was made in connection with four tenders worth Rs 14,64,000 that were floated for sites that do not exist.

"Four contracts, worth Rs 7,11,000 were awarded to contractors. Of these, three contracts were awarded to the same contractor and a payment of Rs 7,7,000 was made. However, the project for which the money was paid remained only on paper. The sites for which the contracts were awarded do not exist," Sachdeva alleged.

Payments were made fraudulently and no one work was on the ground, he added.

The BJP's Delhi chief informed further that the party will bring this matter to the attention of the Lieutenant Governor and demand a high-level inquiry into the works of the Irrigation and Flood Department.

The secretary of Delhi BJP, Harish Khurana, media relations head Vikram Mittal and advocate Sanket Gupta were also present at the joint press conference. (ANI)