Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday hit out at Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia for raising allegations of corruption against him and warning of filing a criminal defamation case against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader.
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Also Read| 'Will explain corruption': Sisodia says Assam CM gave PPE kits contracts to kin
Earlier in the day, Sisodia said that when the country was combating the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Sarma, then then Assam health minister, gave government contracts to companies of his wife and son's business partners to supply Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits above market rates.
Addressing a press conference, Sisodia said that while the Assam government procured PPE kits for ₹600 a piece from other companies, Sarma gave urgent supply orders to the firms of his wife and son's business partners for ₹990 a piece “taking advantage of the emergency.”
Later taking to Twitter, Sarma said, “At a time when the entire country was facing the worst pandemic in over 100 years, Assam hardly had any PPE Kits. My wife took the courage of coming forward and donating around 1500 free of cost to the govt to save lives. She didn’t take a single penny.”
{{/usCountry}}Later taking to Twitter, Sarma said, “At a time when the entire country was facing the worst pandemic in over 100 years, Assam hardly had any PPE Kits. My wife took the courage of coming forward and donating around 1500 free of cost to the govt to save lives. She didn’t take a single penny.”
{{/usCountry}}The Assam chief minister added at that point in time, Sisodia had showed a completely different side. Sarma added that the Delhi deputy chief minister refused his multiple calls to help Assamese people stuck in the national capital, adding he could never forget one instance where he had to wait for seven days just to get an Assamese Covid victim’s body from a mortuary in Delhi.
“Stop sermonising and I will see you (Manish Sisodia) soon in Guwahati as you will face criminal defamation,” Sarma said in another tweet.
The spat between the two state ministers comes at a time when the AAP has been criticising the Narendra Modi-led Union government over the arrest of Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain. Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case and has been sent to the central agency's custody till June 9.
Also Read| ‘Centre told court Satyendar Jain not an accused. How is he corrupt?': Kejriwal
Hours before Sisodia addressed the press conference, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that the former would expose a prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) later in the day.