Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Vijender Gupta on Friday alleged that the “knee-jerk reaction” of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to the CBI probe into the ‘Talk to AK’ programme reflected the extent to which the party was willing to go to “cover up corrupt and illegal practices”.
Mr. Gupta said that the CBI was “rightly probing” what he termed were “serious financial irregularities and administrative lapses” related to a case involving more than ₹1 crore, and that the matter was referred to the CBI by the Lieutenant-Governor (L-G).
“Since the CBI has simply initiated the probe by taking a statement of the Deputy Chief Minister, there is no need for making such a hue and cry. The AAP leaders should cooperate with the investigating agency rather than putting hurdles in their way,” Mr. Gupta said.
The BJP leader said that the proposal to hire a PR firm was approved by the Finance Minister who “appeared to be so motivated” that he “overruled the opinion of the Finance Department”. The approval of the Cabinet, too, Mr. Gupta alleged, was not taken with the project being awarded to “Perfect Relations on nomination basis”.
“The firm had formulated the proposal. This practice was against the rules. In this connection, the observations made by Principal Secretary (Finance) were overruled. The entire process was committed in violation of Centre’s financial rules,” Mr. Gupta said.
Movement of files
Meanwhile, the LoP also urged the L-G to seek a CBI inquiry into the constitution of market committees fox six mandis in Narela, Ghazipur, Azadpur and Keshopur, alleging “serious irregularities” in the proposal submitted to the Lieutenant-Governor.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Thursday said that the file on the panels, sent by the L-G to him, had “somehow made its way to Mr. Gupta before reaching the intended recipient”.
The BJP leader reacted to this allegation on Friday stating: “The CM’s charge is ridiculous and exhibits his nervousness. The truth is that the CM’s media advisor Nagender Sharma leaked the CM’s letter to the L-G at the behest of the CM himself. Therefore, the CM is responsible for leaking the letter,” the LoP said.