AAP and BJP trade corruption allegations over Delhi rice scheme

The Aam Aadmi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party traded corruption allegations on Sunday, with the opposition claiming a massive scam involving the diversion of subsidised rice meant for Delhi's poor. The BJP-led Delhi government denied the charges and cited a recent audit report to allege irregularities during the AAP's previous tenure.

AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that subsidised rice, intended for distribution to the city's vulnerable residents, was diverted and sold to a private company in Haryana at a significant profit. He claimed the arrangement, which he said involved the Food Corporation of India, an Assam-based corporation, and the Delhi government, could amount to a scam worth ₹22,000 crore over three years.

Bharadwaj stated that the Delhi government's food department, under BJP minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, had requested 31,000 metric tonnes of heavily subsidised rice per week from the FCI. This rice was ostensibly for distribution among the poor, including migrant workers and daily-wage earners without ration cards. However, Bharadwaj alleged the grain never reached its intended beneficiaries. Instead, he claimed it was sold to a private...