NEW DELHI: The Congress on Thursday stepped up its attack on the Aam Aadmi Party calling it “Alcohol Affected Party” and accusing the ruling party of taking money from liquor companies to contest elections and run their political campaign. The party also accused the AAP leadership, including Arvind Kejriwal, of being involved in the liquor scam – which extended from Delhi to Hyderabad.
The Delhi Congress leaders played a purported audio clip of a sitting AAP MLA — on the alleged liquor scam in the national capital under the now-withdrawn excise policy. Congress national spokesman Pawan Khera shared the audio clip in which the AAP MLA is purportedly heard opposing the controversial excise policy during a discussion with the then deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.
In the purported conversation, AAP’s Narela MLA Sharad Chauhan is heard saying that he objected to the excise policy but Sisodia tells him that it was needed to generate party funds for fighting elections in Gujarat, Goa and Punjab. “At present, the money for the Delhi election is coming from Punjab,” said Chauhan in the audio recording.
Khera cited the audio clip to attack Sisodia and said Delhi voters now do not want a “manager” of liquor scam to provide education to their children. Manish Sisodia was Delhi’s education minister till he was arrested in connection with the alleged liquor scam. “We all know that alcohol is harmful for health and its addiction destroys the entire family. We all have seen that how the addiction to earn money from alcohol destroyed an entire state. They have destroyed the world class infrastructure of Delhi (and turned it) into a pile of garbage,” Khera alleged. “These are the people who had come to power promising clean and transparent politics. They have now been exposed,” he added.
Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Devender Yadav said the grand-old-party was the first to expose the liquor scam and file an FIR in the liquor scam that led to the arrest of AAP leaders and release on bail on stringent terms. He said the Rs 2,000 crore liquor scam was a means for the AAP central leadership to offer money-making opportunities to all its close associates.
“The liquor scam has impacted the women the most as the youth and men have been pushed into addiction,” Yadav said, adding that at one stage the AAP government had started offering two free bottles of liquor on purchase of one bottle,” the Delhi Congress chief said. Yadav said the AAP’s policy of promoting liquor sales is now hitting Punjab where alcoholism has increased ever since the party came to power. “The presence of an AAP government in Punjab has strengthened the roots of liquor lobby in Delhi as well,” he said.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who could not address a scheduled election rally due to ill-health, said Delhi now wants the “real development model” of former chief minister Sheila Dikshit and not the “false propaganda and PR model” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
Congress candidate Sandeep Dikshit, who is the son of former chief minister Sheila Dikshit and is pitted against Kejriwal in the New Delhi assembly seat, accused AAP government of a massive scam in the procurement of essential medical supplies during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“These are not my allegations. A writ petition has been filed in the court regarding a case. It reveals that there was a massive scam in the procurement of medicines within the Delhi government. The most disturbing part is that during COVID, 80-90 per cent of the budget allocated for purchasing medicines went into the pockets of just 4-5 companies,” Dikshit said.
“In this, the Delhi government purchased 4,000 oxygen concentrators from one company. During the COVID crisis, when patients couldn’t be shifted to ventilators, oxygen concentrators were used to provide relief. The government ordered 4,000 concentrators and made the payment, but only 500 were supplied. Due to the shortage of 3,500 concentrators, if 200 people died, AAP’s corruption directly contributed to that loss. It was also revealed that the N95 masks, which were crucial during that time, were not supplied as per the order. Several other machines were also ordered, and payments were made, but it’s unclear where they went,” the Congress leader claimed.
The Congress has been relentless in its attacks on the AAP government and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal ever since the two parties, who are allies under the INDIA banner, announced to contest the Delhi elections separately.
On Wednesday, Congress leader Ajay Maken had accused the AAP government of Rs 382 crore corruption in the healthcare sector. “The Delhi CM made his party on the basis that he will fight corruption. At that time, he made corruption allegations against Congress based on CAG reports. Today, there are 14 CAG reports that make serious corruption allegations against Arvind Kejriwal. One such CAG report suggests a scam by Arvind Kejriwal related to health which is worth Rs 382 crore,” Maken said at a press conference.
“The CAG reports suggest that a sum of Rs 382.52 crore more than the tender was spent on three hospitals. This is the reason that Arvind Kejriwal did not let the CAG report be presented in the Vidhan Sabha. I am making a direct allegation that this is the reason that the CAG report was stopped,” Maken alleged.
Last month, Maken had called Kejriwal “anti-national” and “farziwal” following which AAP had demanded action against the Congress leader and had even threatened to work for removal of the grand-old-party from the INDIA bloc.
Delhi will go to the polls on February 5 and the counting of votes will take place on February 8.
(With inputs from agencies)
