A WAR OF words erupted between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the findings of a CAG report purportedly saying that the state exchequer incurred a loss of Rs 2,026 crore due to the Delhi government’s now-retracted excise policy.

Following news reports by TV channels CNN News 18 and India Today, BJP national president Jagat Prakash Nadda went on the offensive and said “intentional lapses” in the policy caused losses of Rs 2,026 crore to the exchequer. AAP dismissed the report and said it was “manufactured at the BJP office”.

“Intoxicated by power, high on mis-governance. ‘AAP’DA model of loot in full display and that too on something like liquor. Just a matter of a few weeks before they are voted out and punished for their misdeeds. CAG Report on ‘Liquorgate’ exposes @ArvindKejriwal and @AamAadmiParty Gov. Intentional ‘Lapses’ in Policy Implementation Rs 2026 Cr Loss to Exchequer money (Sic.)” Nadda said in a post on X.

Intoxicated by power, high on misgovernance.

‘AAP’DA model of loot in full display and that too on something like liquor.

Just a matter of a few weeks before they are voted out and punished for their misdeeds.

CAG Report on ‘Liquorgate’ exposes @ArvindKejriwal and…

— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) January 11, 2025

Retaliating to the allegations, AAP chief national spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar accused the BJP of “manufacturing” the “fake” report to attack the AAP.

“This CAG report that the CM, the LG, the Speaker (of the Delhi Legislative Assembly) have not seen, nor is available on the website of the CAG…what such report have they received? This is the same sheet of paper that the BJP manufactures at its office…that has no credibility…the BJP manufactures fake papers and runs away after making accusations on their basis,” Kakkar alleged.

According to the purported CAG report, the actual implementation of the policy was considered sub-optimal compared to its stated objectives. It is learnt to state that vends in non-conforming wards could not be opened and equitable distribution of retail vends could not be achieved – which was a major aim of the new policy.

It is also said to have flagged the issue and management of zonal licenses having major shortcomings including exclusivity arrangements between zonal licensees and wholesalers as well as brand pushing. In regards to issues related to the formulation of the policy, the purported report is said to flag lack of necessary permissions from the Council of Ministers in some decisions which had revenue implications.

According to the purported report, while liquor sale in Delhi from December 2021 to August 2022 under the new policy was an estimated 64 crore bottles, much more than around 58 crore bottles between December 2018 and August 2019, it did not result in higher revenues for the state government.

This, according to the purported report, was because the new policy did away with levying and collecting revenue on a per bottle basis in advance on presumptive sales based on the 2019-20 financial year. This gave retailers an incentive to ramp up sales volume through measures such as deep discounting without additional revenue to the Delhi Government.

The CAG report is also purported to have flagged design issues including the imposed exclusivity arrangement between manufacturers and wholesalers, which eventually increased the risk of monopolisation and cartelisation. Besides, it is learnt to have flagged the cases of related business entities holding licenses, waiver of licence fees to zonal licensees, operationalisation of liquor vends in non-conforming areas, and failure to ensure the setting up of liquor testing laboratories and batch testing for rigorous quality assurance of the liquor being sold.

BJP MP Anurag Thakur accused AAP Convenor Arvind Kejriwal of being the “kingpin of the liquor scam”. “In Delhi, Aam Aadmi Party opened bars at many places under the pretext of building schools. According to CAG’s investigation report on 10 key issues, the Delhi liquor scam by Aam Aadmi Party has caused a revenue loss of ₹ 2,026 crore. The findings of the CAG report have once again proved that Arvind Kejriwal is the kingpin of the liquor scam,” he alleged.

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