BJP readies corruption salvo as new House sits

The BJP government plans to release 14 pending audit reports in the Delhi assembly starting Monday, setting the stage for what promises to be a turbulent first session with allegations of financial irregularities during the AAP's tenure at the centre of proceedings, which in turn could frame the Capital's political context for months to come.

- Paras Singh

Chief minister Rekha Gupta, who met Union home minister Amit Shah and defence minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday, said her government would demand accountability for "every single rupee" of public money.

"The previous governments must now answer the people of Delhi for the misuse of their hard-earned money," Gupta said after her party's legislature group meeting.

The three-day session will begin with newly elected MLAs taking oath and BJP's Vijender Gupta, the former Leader of Opposition from Rohini constituency, likely to be elected as Speaker. Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has appointed BJP legislator Arvinder Singh Lovely as pro-tem Speaker.

The CAG reports, dating back to 2017, cover critical areas including vehicular pollution prevention, child welfare, liquor regulation, health infrastructure and DTC operations.

One of these reports allegedly has found revenue loss of 2,026 crore due to irregularities in the Delhi government's excise policy in 2021-22, and a host of other alleged impropriety, including deviations from policy objectives, lack of transparency in pricing, and violations in issuing licenses that weren't penalised.