Opposition BJP and Congress Thursday welcomed the Centre’s decision to order a preliminary CBI enquiry into the procurement of buses by Delhi’s AAP government, and demanded the resignations of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said it was a “political matter” and nothing will come out of it. Welcoming the decision to order a CBI probe, Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta said the “culprits” will be soon behind the bars.
The Delhi BJP had raised the issue of Rs 5,000-crore DTC bus purchase and maintenance scam and run a long agitation for scrapping of the deal, Gupta said in a statement. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recommended a preliminary enquiry into the procurement of 1000 low-floor buses by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), officials said on Thursday.
“It is a political matter, they can carry out all probe they want, we welcome any kind of probe but nothing will come out of it, Bhardwaj said, adding all such investigations by the Centre into Delhi government’s decisions have not led to any findings. Delhi BJP MLA and former state president Vijender Gupta, who had in Vidhan Sabha levelled allegations of “corruption” in the bus procurement, said the transport minister and officers concerned should be removed for a “fair” probe.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs took cognisance of the report submitted by the LG-constituted committee and found the findings to be a sufficient ground to order a CBI probe,” he claimed. Lt Governor Anil Baijal had in June formed a three-member committee to look into the bus procurement process. The committee had in its report mentioned procedural “flaws” in annual maintenance contract.
Delhi Congress president Anil Chaudhary who had also complained to various Central agencies demanding a probe into bus procurement, demanded that the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should step down till the CBI enquiry is completed The CBI has taken cognisance of a complaint by Delhi Congress, seeking a detailed probe into the Rs 4,288-crore corruption in the purchase and maintenance of 1,000 DTC buses by the Aam Aadmi Party Government, and ordered a detailed probe, which vindicates the Delhi Congress stand,” Kumar said in a statement. Ever since the Aam Aadmi Party came to power in Delhi seven years ago, it has “bled the DTC to virtual death”, Kumar alleged. The Corporation needs a massive overhaul to bring it back into the level of efficiency and profits it had attained under the Congress rule, he added.
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