New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta Tuesday tabled the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report in the Assembly, amid constant rounds of political sparring and squabbling between Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the BJP.
Soon after the address of Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, the CM tabled the CAG’s ‘Performance audit report on regulation and supply of liquor in Delhi.’
A total of 14 CAG reports, about various departments of the Delhi government, are to be tabled in the Assembly and as reports suggest they will be tabled in a staggered manner.
The tabling of the CAG report on the Arvind Kejriwal government’s liquor policy assumes significance as this was allegedly the ‘biggest scam’ during the AAP’s tenure and earned it huge backlash and anger from the common public.
A couple of its top leaders were arrested for the corruption-laden excise policy, which was later revoked. Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had to give up his chair.
In the run-up to Assembly elections, the ‘liquor scam’ became a major poll plank as the BJP succeeded in conveying the message that the AAP government facilitated wide-scale corruption with its excise policy. The previous dispensation also stonewalled the tabling of the CAG report in the state Assembly.
Delhi Speaker Vijender Gupta termed the blocking of the CAG report in the Assembly a ‘criminal offence’. He said that the AAP government deliberately blocked the CAG report from coming into public domain and its act also drew harsh criticism from the High Court.
Earlier, when the House proceedings began, the AAP legislators created a ruckus in the House by chanting slogans and protesting against the BJP government’s move to insult Dr B.R. Ambedkar and Shaheed Bhagat Singh.
They also tried to disrupt the L-G’s address to the Assembly. Despite directions from the Speaker, the unrelenting AAP MLAs continue to make noise.
Following this, at least a dozen AAP MLAs were suspended for the day.
IANS