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Charges, counter-charges imploding Delhi government

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By Sidharth Mishra

While we are still trying to figure what put legislative functioning of Arvind Kejriwal government into abeyance in Delhi for the past four years, a flurry of attacks by them have further muddied the water. Last we learnt that Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia stonewalled tabling of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report in the house for four consecutive years.

Now that the report is in the public domain, one learns what made Kejriwal government hold back the reports. The CAG reports pertaining to the years 2017-18 to 2020-21 point to several irregularities of serious nature in the accounts and finance across various departments of Delhi government.

A cursory look at the report would show that every PSU under Delhi government was incurring loss, which is in direct contrast to government's claims that under them Delhi was financially vibrant. As per the report, Delhi government power companies losses stood at Rs 2,561 crore. The Delhi Transport Corporation incurred a loss of Rs 29,143 crore while the loss for Delhi Jal Board was Rs 27,660 crore, the CAG papers indicate.

Now that indictment of Jal Board is in way indictment of Aam Aadmi Party’s poster boy Raghav Chadha, who headed it for several years, a counter offensive had to be launched. No wonder, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia last week wrote to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena and demanded a CBI probe into the alleged toll tax scam of Rs 6,000 crore in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The development came a day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) levelled allegations against the MCD that it colluded with two toll tax companies and caused a huge loss to the public exchequer.

With no intent to either give a clean chit to the BJP-led MCD or its officials, it’s unlikely that Sisodia’s claim on the municipal body was going to stick as the charge of patronising liquor cartels against former L-G Anil Baijal prima facie did not hold. Such charges are being seen as defensive mechanism especially when one is himself under probe for corrupt practices.

Coming back to the CAG report, at one place it’s mentioned that Rs 37 lakh out of Rs 2.16 crore budget of replacement of sewer lines at West Laxmi Market and Khureji Khas project spent on advertisements for the foundation stone laying ceremony. The main charge against the Delhi government is that while goes into publicity over-drive, it never cares to check whether the projects it inaugurated, unveiled ever got completed. The CAG report has pointed to unutilised funds for several critical projects including those for Swachh Bharat Mission and Regional Rapid Transit System Corridor.

If this was not enough, the cases against Kejriwal's confidant and Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan too are back in public domain. The cases relate to alleged financial bungling in the bank accounts of the Waqf Board, creation of tenancy in Waqf Board properties, corruption in purchase of vehicles and illegal appointment of 33 people in the Delhi Waqf Board in violation of the service rules, among others, the reports say. A case in this regard was registered by the ACB in January 2020 under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the Indian Penal Code.

The sum and substance of the past fortnight’s developments are that the Delhi government is imploding under the pressures of non-governance or shall we say rather mal-governance. With the Centre having made up its mind to long-overdue close monitoring,  courts so far refusing relief to jailed minister Satyender Jain and cases piling up against his other colleagues, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is now destined for a very rough drive ahead.

(The writer is Author and President, Centre for Reforms, Development & Justice)  

 

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