‘Rice scam’ unfolding in Delhi: AAP; large-scale lapses under Kejriwal exposed by CAG: BJP

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday traded corruption allegations, with the Opposition alleging irregularities in the procurement and sale of subsidised rice meant for the poor in Delhi, and claiming that the “racket” could involve rice worth ₹22,000 crore over three years. Public Works Department Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh denied the allegations and cited a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report tabled in the Assembly on August 7 that pointed to “large-scale financial irregularities” during AAP’s 11-year tenure in the Capital.

Addressing a press conference, AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj said that, on the recommendation of Food Supplies Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa’s department, the Food Corporation of India had agreed to supply 31,000 tonnes of heavily subsidised rice every week to the North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited in Assam for distribution among Delhi’s poor for a period of three years.