AAP vs BJP over CBI heat on Delhi bus plan

While the AAP has denied the allegations saying “no buses were procured” under the proposal under question, the BJP said there was a “scam of crores of rupees”.

A fresh war of words has erupted between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – this time over lieutenant governor VK Saxena approving a proposal for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into alleged irregularities in the proposed procurement of 1,000 low-floor buses in 2019.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has ordered an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged lapses and irregularities in the implementation of AAP government’s excise policy for 2021-22. (PTI)

While the AAP has denied the allegations saying “no buses were procured” under the proposal under question, the BJP said there was a “scam of crores of rupees”.

LG Saxena has approved a proposal of chief secretary Naresh Kumar to forward a complaint alleging corruption in the tendering process for the procurement of 1,000 low-floor buses in 2019 to the CBI, news agency Press Trust of India quoted an official as saying.

A complaint addressed to Saxena in June this year said that the appointment of the minister of transport as the chairman of the committee for tendering and procurement of buses by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) was done in a “premeditated manner”. Saxena’s office did not issue an official statement on the matter.

The CBI in August 2021 registered a preliminary enquiry into alleged irregularities in (another) proposed purchase and proposed annual maintenance contract of 1,000 AC buses by the Delhi government in 2020 over complaints of irregularities.

On Sunday, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said Arvind Kejriwal had become a synonym for corruption. At a news briefing, he said the sole characteristic of the AAP was that it was steeped in corruption.

AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj, meanwhile, hit out at Saxena for “trying to distract attention from corruption allegations against him by pulling out baseless cases” against the Kejriwal government.

“As chairman of the Khadi and Village Industries Corporation (KVIC), Saxena was involved in several irregularities... The LG could not muster the courage to say that he was ready for an independent investigation in this matter,” Bhardwaj said at a media briefing on Sunday.

While no fresh reaction was available from the LG office on the allegations, the LG has previously called them baseless. In legal notices served to AAP leaders, Saxena said the work to design the Khadi Lounge was done by his daughter on a pro bono basis which saved KVIC the designing fee. The notice also flagged that AAP leaders’ allegations of corruption and money laundering are based on the purported statements made by the accused persons against whom the CBI has already filed a charge sheet.

Bhardwaj rejected the allegations of corruption in procurement of buses.

“There is no question of corruption into the matter. No bus was procured under the proposal under question and no contract was awarded. The process was put on hold after inquiry started into the process, so there is no question of corruption. Not a single rupee payment was made. The government put the tendering process on hold after the inquiry started,” he said, referring to the LG forming a three-member committee for inquiry in 2021.

The BJP hit back, with leader of opposition in the Delhi assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri accusing the AAP government of trying to “suppress the matter”.

Welcoming the LG’s recommendation, Bidhuri said: “The BJP MLAs had met the Lieutenant Governor and the Central Vigilance Commission regarding this matter. Now the recommendation to investigate this matter has brought to light another scam of the AAP government.”

“A memorandum given to the Lieutenant Governor on March 12, 2021 clearly stated that on January 15, 2021, the Kejriwal government has awarded the work of buying 700 buses from JBM and 300 buses from Tata. These buses were being bought for ₹875 crore. Not only this, a contract was also signed for the annual maintenance of these buses, in which ₹3,500 crore was fixed at the rate of ₹45 per km. Surprisingly, there was a warranty of three years but the payment of the maintenance amount was fixed from day one,” Bidhuri said, dismissing claims by the AAP that the contract was not awarded as a “white lie”.

“There was a scam of crores not only in the purchase of 1,000 DTC buses but also in the name of their maintenance. The Kejriwal government has been continuously trying to suppress this matter,” Bidhuri said. He was referring to a memorandum submitted by a BJP delegation to the LG alleging irregularities.

In the latest move, the complaint has alleged irregularities in the July 2019 procurement bid for 1,000 low-floor BS-IV and BS-VI buses and another bid made in March 2020 for the purchase and annual maintenance contract for low-floor BS-VI buses, according to the official quoted by PTI.

The complaint was forwarded to the chief secretary on July 22 to seek comments from the departments of the Delhi government and consequently their recommendations.

The report submitted by the chief secretary on August 19 had pointed out certain “irregularities”, following which the LG has now forwarded the complaint to the CBI, adding that the central agency is already conducting a preliminary inquiry into the matter, the official said.

BJP MLA Vijender Gupta said the AAP government has made multiple attempts to procure buses by trying to engage in wrongdoings. “The current matter pertains to an attempt under which they had hatched a corruption plan on the pretext of procuring the buses which failed. I lodged a complaint with regard to their second similar attempt which is being investigated by the CBI,” he said.

In July 2021, a probe committee appointed by former LG Anil Baijal – which probed another attempt of the AAP government to procure buses – gave a clean chit to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) over the tendering and procurement of 1,000 air-conditioned (AC) low-floor buses and stated that the tendering process suffered from “no major infirmity”. The committee, however, recommended floating fresh tenders for its annual maintenance contract over what it described as “procedural lapses” arising out of a “bona fide decision-making process”.

A Delhi government official, who did not want to be named, said the current matter (June 9, 2022 complaint) pertains to the tendering process for procurement of 1,000 buses by the Delhi government in 2019. “The tenders had been floated for the purpose, but the entire process was scrapped by the DTC Board when it learned about some shortcomings. No tender was awarded,” said the official.

Transport minister Kailash Gahlot did not respond to requests for comments.