CM house row: AAP used loophole to get clearance, says BJP
As per rules, any work that costs over Rs 10 crore has to be brought to the notice of the Public Works Department’s (PWD) engineer-in-chief and secretary.
“Under the PWD work manual, there is a provision that any concerned chief engineer can directly issue the work order with the tender for works of less than Rs 10 crore in an emergency by taking urgent approval from the PWD Minister. Thus, in case of the CM’s bungalow five small work orders were issued of values Rs 7.92 crore, Rs 1.64 crore, Rs 9.09 crore, Rs 8.68 crore and Rs 9.34 crore,” Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva alleged.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP, Sanjay Singh, meanwhile, said that the issue had been raised in the media because BJP was trying to “run away from discussions on serious issues facing the country”. He demanded that BJP address allegations made by former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik, regarding the attack on security forces in Pulwama. “When five planes were being requested for the safety of our soldiers, why were they not given?” he said.
The AAP Tuesday said that the official house allotted to Kejriwal on Flagstaff Road was in poor condition and ceilings in three different places had fallen, after which an audit on the structural safety of the building was ordered.
The general secretary of Delhi BJP’s Mahila Morcha, Teena Sharma, submitted a complaint against the CM at CBI headquarters, alleging cheating, forgery and fraud. Earlier, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra in a press conference called Kejriwal “Maharaj” (king), slamming him for spending crores of rupees on building a “luxurious” house for himself when people were fighting for their lives during the pandemic.
Singh hit back and said, “During the pandemic, when citizens were dying in hordes, the BJP government passed Narendra Modi’s budget to buy an aircraft for himself worth Rs 8,400 crore. It is bizarre how the BJP lies in view of these details.”
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP leaders and workers, including general secretary Kuljeet Chahal, former MP Vijay Goel, protested outside the CM residence in Civil Lines over the issue.
