New Delhi, Feb 25 (PTI) In the first Delhi Assembly session, the CAG report on the Performance Audit on the Regulation and Supply of Liquor was tabled with the BJP accusing the AAP of suppressing the findings to cover up alleged corruption.
During the discussion, BJP MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely claimed that AAP was attempting to evade accountability, saying, "Every government is constitutionally required to table CAG reports during its tenure. Withholding them is a violation of the Constitution."
He accused the party of failing to present any CAG reports since 2017.
Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa alleged that the liquor trade in Delhi had been monopolized to benefit close associates of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
"Earlier, around 111 businessmen were involved in the liquor trade, but now only 14 remain, with three individuals controlling 72 per cent of the market. Many tenders were granted to ineligible companies simply because they had links to Kejriwal," he claimed.
However, no members of the opposition were present in the Assembly during the discussion on the CAG report, as 12 members had been marshalled out earlier in the session.
Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta underscored the importance of the CAG report and called withholding it a "criminal offence."
Highlighting concerns over pending reports, Gupta pointed out that CAG reports from 2017-18 onward were never tabled.
He accused the previous AAP government of deliberately violating constitutional provisions by withholding them. "I am deeply agitated that these reports were suppressed, amounting to an intentional violation of the constitutional mandate," he said.
Education Minister Ashish Sood also criticised AAP, alleging financial mismanagement in education programs.
"As we continue discussions within our department, eye-opening facts are emerging. The Aam Aadmi Party’s much-talked-about initiative, Master Blaster, allocated only Rs 44 crores for children under the program, while Rs 150 crores were spent on advertisements," he claimed.
Similarly, under the Happiness Curriculum, Rs 20 crores were spent on children, whereas Rs 28 crores were allocated for advertisements. In the Deshbhakti Curriculum, Rs 12 crores were used for the program, but Rs 26 crores were spent on its promotion, " Sood claimed.
"Over the past 12 years, this assembly has witnessed lies, deceit, and hypocrisy," he said.