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Congress charges at Modi govt over CAG report, AAP alleges ₹7.5 lakh crore scam
Congress demanded PM Modi's response to CAG reports on health scheme discrepancies and the high cost of infrastructure projects.
The Congress party on Monday demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi break his silence on the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India reports flagging discrepancies in the database of a centrally sponsored health scheme and the high cost of Dwarka Expressway. On the eve of the 77th Independence Day, Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said the prime minister will “unleash his torrent of lies” tomorrow from the ramparts of the Red Fort.
“But will he have the courage to question his own government and his ministers on their corruption and incompetence?” Ramesh asked, alleging that the CAG report has exposed the “sheer corruption and incompetence of the Modi government.”
The Congress MP listed the red flags of the report, including the inflated project cost of the Dwarka Expressway, which went up 14 times from the sanctioned ₹18 crore/km to ₹250 crore/km.
A performance audit by the CAG also found several discrepancies in India’s public health assurance scheme Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) that led to crores of rupees in expenditure on ineligible beneficiaries, mainly due to inadequate validation controls. The faults in the database of AB-PMJAY include invalid names, unrealistic dates of birth, duplicate health IDs and unrealistic family sizes, the government’s auditor said in a report tabled in Parliament.
“CAG has raised similar questions on irregularities in the Ayodhya Development Project and the diversion of old page pension funds under National Social Assistance Programme for publicity of the Modi government's schemes instead,” Ramesh said.
“We demand answers from the Prime Minister, Chuppi Todiye, Pradhan Mantri-ji! (Break your silence, Mr Prime Minister).”
Earlier today, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Modi government of corruption in infrastructure projects and said it is "taking the nation on a highway to hell". Citing the CAG report on the 'Bharatmala Pariyojana' highway projects, Kharge said Prime Minister Modi should look within before harping on corruption by his political opponents.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also targeted the ruling BJP, with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal alleging that the PM Modi-led government has broken "all records of corruption".
"The Modi government has broken all the records of corruption in the past 75 years," Kejriwal charged in a post on X, earlier known as Twitter, sharing a screenshot of a media report on the CAG report.
Rajya Sabha MP and AAP national spokesperson Sanjay Singh also targeted Modi over the media report and said his government is the "most corrupt" since independence.
"The Narendra Modi government constructed the road (Dwarka Expressway) at the cost of ₹250 crore per kilometer while it was to be constructed at the rate of ₹18 crore per kilometer," he said, citing the CAG report.
Under the 'Bharatmala Pariyojana', a total of 75,000 kilometers of roads were to be constructed at the rate of ₹15 crore per kilometer, Singh said.
"But the Narendra Modi government increased the cost to ₹25 crore per kilometer," he claimed.
"This government has committed a scam worth ₹7.5 lakh crore in the Bharatmala project," Singh charged and asked the prime minister to stop talking about his government's commitment to end corruption in the country.
