With a Comptroller and Auditor General (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, the BJP and the Congress on Saturday took on the AAP, accusing it indulging in corruption and open loot.
The report, which is yet to be tabled before the Delhi Assembly, allegedly highlights lapses and violations under the leadership of former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy, Manish Sisodia.
“The new liquor policy implemented by Kejriwal government was not ratified by the Delhi Assembly and lacked transparency on several counts… Had BJP’s protest not forced Arvind Kejriwal to withdraw his new liquor policy, then by now the loss would have crossed at least Rs 10,000 crore,” Delhi BJP chief Virender Sachdeva said.
Joining the attack, Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav said, “It was the Delhi Congress that first complained to the Lt Governor about corruption in the implementation of the old liquor policy, as there was a huge scam in granting licenses, in direct violation of Delhi Excise Rule 2010… open loot was carried out to help benefit contractors in many ways.”
Responding to the attacks, AAP Spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar questioned the authenticity of the purported CAG report. “The BJP is presenting its office-manufactured documents as CAG reports instead of naming its CM face… BJP should discuss real CAG reports on irregularities in projects like Dwarka Expressway and Ayushman Bharat in Delhi,” she said.
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.
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