Arvind Kejriwal's AAP is under attack from both the BJP and the Congress after Shunglu panel report
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is under attack from both the BJP and the Congress after being accused of nepotism and misuse of power by the Shunglu Committee, which scrutinised decisions made by the Delhi Government without the approval of the Lieutenant Governor. "Their spit and run tactic won't work this time," said Union minister Nirmala Sitaraman. The Congress' Delhi chief Ajay Maken has demanded Mr Kejriwal's resignation.
Mr Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party held a press conference on Thursday afternoon to rubbish the Shunglu Committee report and has questioned the timing of it being made public, linking it to crucial civic polls in Delhi, in which it takes on both the BJP and the Congress later this month. The report was submitted in November.
"When the Congress talks of corruption it seems like Gabbar Singh is lecturing on non-violence," said AAP's Ashutosh.
"If Arvind Kejriwal has any conscience left then he should immediately resign from the Chief Minister's post," Ajay Maken told reporters, claiming he had used a Right to Information or RTI application to get a copy of the Shunglu report. He said the committee accused the Chief Minister of corruption, nepotism and misuse of power, and said Congress supporters and workers would on Friday stage a protest against the AAP in all 272 wards of Delhi where civic elections will be held this month.
Ms Sitaraman has asked Mr Kejriwal to answer questions that are raised by the report.
"The Shunglu committee also investigated commonwealth games corruption and was supported by AAP at that time... the report has made it clear that the Delhi Government was working as a private ltd company," said the BJP's Vijay Goel.
The three-member Shunglu committee was set up by former Delhi LG Najeeb Jung last year under VK Shunglu, a retired bureaucrat who had earlier served as the country's top auditor CAG. Its brief was to investigate 404 files with key decisions made by the Kejriwal government and was set up after the High Court ruled that the LG is the administrative head of Delhi and state government decisions must be signed off by him.
The panel has in a report of over 100 pages questioned several decisions including appointments and land allotment. Among decisions it has highlighted as irregular are the appointment of Health Minister Satyendar Jain's daughter Soumya in Heath Department project and that of Nikunj Agarwal, a relative of Chief Minister Kejriwal's wife, as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Health Minister.
The committee also questioned a Delhi cabinet decision allotting the government-owned 206, Rouse Avenue bungalow in Delhi for AAP to use as its office.