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The BJP and Congress escalated their attacks on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday after a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, which was leaked and accessed by India Today, highlighted lapses in the now-scrapped excise policy in Delhi.
While the BJP has accused AAP of not tabling the report in the Assembly to hide its misdeeds, the Arvind Kejriwal-led party alleged that the findings were made at the “saffron party’s office”.
Addressing a press conference, BJP leader Anurag Thakur said that the CAG report listed 10 major findings about the policy, which was scrapped by the AAP government amid investigations by the ED and CBI. He stressed that former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was arrested in the case and is out on bail, would have to answer the questions raised in the report.
“He will have to say who pocketed the money,” Thakur said, accusing Kejriwal of being the ‘kingpin’ of the alleged liquor policy scam.
Even BJP president JP Nadda launched a scathing attack on AAP, claiming the CAG report had exposed “intentional lapses”, leading to a loss of Rs 2,026 crore to the exchequer.
“Intoxicated by power, high on misgovernance. ‘AAP’DA‘ model of loot on full display and that too on something like liquor. The CAG report on ‘Liquorgate’ exposes Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP government. Intentional ‘lapses’ in policy implementation. Rs 2026 crore loss to exchequer money,” Nadda posted on X.
Apart from Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh were arrested in the Delhi liquor policy case. Both Kejriwal and Sisodia had to spent months in jail before being released on bail.
Congress has also reacted to the report and accused Arvind Kejriwal of causing financial loss to the Delhi government.
“The truth has now come to light. During the COVID-19 period, the Delhi government was offering a ‘Buy 1 Get 1 Free’ scheme on liquor. The liquor policy caused financial losses for the Delhi government, money that could have been spent on the welfare of the people,” Congress leader and former AAP member Alka Lamba said.
Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav wondered whether there was a deal between the AAP and the BJP about not tabling the CAG report in the Assembly on time.
“We say the CAG report should be tabled soon. The liquor deal caused losses to the Delhi government. We have always raised this issue. It’s unfortunate that the report could not be tabled on time. We demand to know what deal existed between AAP and the BJP that the CAG report was not presented on time. If the government had received Rs 2,000 crore, think about how many public welfare projects could have been undertaken,” Yadav said.
Meanwhile, AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh questioned the credibility of the report, asking whether it had been filed at the “BJP’s office”. He also emphasised that the report had not yet been presented in the Delhi Assembly.
“Where is this CAG report? Where are these claims coming from? Is it filed at the BJP office? BJP leaders have lost their mental balance. The CAG report has not been tabled, and they are making such claims,” Singh said.
