‘Sprinkling pesticides, AAP’s termites coming out’: Delhi CM slams previous regime

The CAG report on Delhi’s electricity subsidy scheme had said that subsidy expenditure had increased from Rs 2,405.59 crore in 2019-20 to Rs 3,161 crore in 2022-23. It added that the policy “did not target the deserving and disadvantaged section of the population and paid it to nearly the entire domestic consumer base”.

The second CAG report said that Delhi’s e-procurement system used common PAN numbers and identical email IDs, pointing to possible collusion and cover bidding. The report, which examined the system between 2017-18 and 2022-23, found that in 7,181 tenders worth Rs 3,217.44 crore, involving 14,527 valid bids, bidders had used the same IP addresses.

“We are sprinkling pesticides and AAP’s termites are coming out,” the CM said.

Gupta alleged that the AAP government had left no sector or department untouched and “committed scams in all departments — from education to health”.

She said that of the Rs 80,798-crore Budget in 2024-25, “only around Rs 61,000 crore was spent out…”. She claimed that if capital expenditure had been undertaken in public interest, roads and flyovers could have been built, schools could have been opened and other essential development works could have been carried out.

“But this was not the previous government’s focus, the CM said. “Its objective was to find ways to commit scams, siphon off money and mislead people by putting up large photographs even without doing the work.”

Addressing Opposition leaders, Gupta said they should look at the facts brought out by the CAG reports.

Referring to regulatory assets of power companies, the CM said electricity tariffs had not been increased after 2014, resulting in a widening gap between the actual revenue from the purchase and distribution of electricity.

“This gap gradually accumulated in the form of a regulatory asset… The regulatory asset stood at around Rs 9,000 crore in 2019-20 and subsequently increased to Rs 27,200 crore and the gap had now reached around Rs 38,000 crore,” she added.

“Power companies could try to pass the burden of this Rs 38,000 crore on to the people, but our government will not allow that to happen. The government is fighting the case in court,” Gupta said.

Maintaining that her government was undertaking administrative reforms to make the procurement process more transparent and accountable, Gupta said, “The government had taken immediate action after reports of irregularities related to the procurement of medicines in the health sector came to light. Forty officials from the Procurement Cell were transferred on the same day and three officials were suspended.”