‘Rice scam’ unfolding in Delhi: AAP; large-scale lapses under Kejriwal exposed by CAG: BJP

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday traded corruption allegations, with the Opposition alleging irregularities in the procurement and sale of subsidised rice meant for the poor in Delhi, and claiming that the “racket” could involve rice worth ₹22,000 crore over three years. Public Works Department Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh denied the allegations and cited a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled in the Assembly on August 7 that pointed to “large-scale financial irregularities” during AAP’s 11-year tenure in the Capital.

Addressing a press conference, AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj said that, on the recommendation of Food Supplies Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa’s department, the Food Corporation of India had agreed to supply 31,000 tonnes of heavily subsidised rice every week to the North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited in Assam for distribution among Delhi’s poor for a period of three years.

“Instead, the corporation allegedly sold the rice to a private company in Haryana at nearly double the price, generating ₹70 crore to ₹71 crore in commission every week. At this rate, rice worth ₹22,000 crore would have been sold over three years, generating ₹11,000 crore in commission,” Mr. Bharadwaj claimed.

He said the “racket” had been detected by the Central government’s vigilance officials and that an officer had been suspended; however, the Delhi government had remained silent on the matter. Mr. Bharadwaj demanded that Chief Minister Rekha Gupta seek Mr. Sirsa’s resignation and fix responsibility for the alleged scam.

Responding to the allegations, Mr. Sirsa threatened legal action. He gave AAP leaders 24 hours to withdraw their allegations and issue a public apology, failing which he said he would initiate appropriate legal proceedings against them. “Saurabh Bharadwaj and Sanjeev Jha have today again made baseless, false, fabricated and malicious allegations against me, clearly intended to defame and malign me. Such a malicious campaign appears to be their modus operandi. Apologise or we will meet in court,” Mr. Sirsa stated in a post on X.

‘Ex-CM flouted rules’

The Delhi government said it had received 24 CAG reports in the past 18 months, with each “exposing corruption” involving thousands of crores of rupees during the AAP’s tenure. Citing the findings of a CAG report, the PWD Minister alleged that former CM Arvind Kejriwal had flouted rules, floated 1,185 manual tenders and inserted arbitration clauses in tenders, leading to large-scale irregularities and loss of public money.

“A total of ₹70,410 crore in tax revenue was outstanding against some businesses. The GST Department, in collusion with certain industrialists and business owners, allowed their outstanding GST liabilities to remain pending,” Mr. Singh said.

He added that the CAG report stated that “bogus” e-way bills worth ₹68,680 crore had been generated.