After accusations of erstwhile AAP government in various 'scams' Rekha Gupta led BJP government has now raised the issue of what it says 'high end' purchases made by the leaders of the party while they were in power, giving detailed account of the cost incurred and break up of figures spent on the mobile phones. AAP too had raised the similar issue two days accusing Delhi government of having increased ceiling on purchase of mobile phones.
Home Minister Ashish Sood claimed that AAP leaders, including former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, purchased multiple top-of-the-line mobile phones when the party was in power in the national capital. However, AAP hit back saying its leaders are making "false allegations" of corruption to cover up its "betrayal" of people.
Sood said according to an official circular of 2013, the chief minister and other ministers of Delhi were entitled to purchase mobile phones worth Rs 50,000 and Rs 45,000 respectively, but Kejriwal, holding the top post from 2015 to 2022, bought four latest iPhone models worth lakhs of rupees.
Showing documents, the minister said Kejriwal purchased an iPhone 6s Plus in 2015, costing Rs 81,000, an iPhone 7 Plus worth Rs 69,000 in 2017, an iPhone 12 Pro Max) worth Rs 1.39 lakh during Covid times in 2020 and an iPhone 13 Pro Max, costing Rs 1,63,900, on July 13, 2022.Similarly, Sisodia purchased five costly phones between 2017 and 2022, Sood said, adding that the former deputy chief minister's phones included a Samsung Galaxy S8 with accessories for Rs 59,899 bought in 2017, a Samsung S8 for Rs 49,000 in 2018, an iPhone worth Rs 1.12 lakh in 2020, an iPhone 12 Pro Max for Rs 1.66 lakh in 2021 and an iPhone 13 Pro Max for Rs 1.37 lakh in 2022.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader claimed that often the costly mobile phones were purchased by Kejriwal and others and then post-facto approvals were given as those were on the higher side of the stipulated reimbursements.
Former chief minister Atishi too purchased a phone worth Rs 1.27 lakh in 2023, despite being entitled to reimbursement for only Rs 45,000, he said.
Sood's attack on Kejriwal and Sisodia came close on the heels of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) slamming the Delhi government over the revised ceiling of mobile-phone reimbursements for the chief minister and other ministers.In an office memo issued on July 9, the General Administration Department (GAD) of the city government revised the ceilings for the cost of mobile handsets and monthly charges payable to service providers by the chief minister and other ministers.
The upper limit of the mobile handset price for the chief minister has now been set at Rs 1.5 lakh, while for the other ministers, it is Rs 1.25 lakh. The monthly call charges have been fixed in accordance with the actual bills.AAP's Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj took a dig at the city government over the rate revision, saying although the BJP did not fulfil any of its promises made to the people of Delhi, at least the chief minister and other ministers have been benefitted.
In a statement, the Kejriwal-led party dismissed Sood's charges, saying the BJP is making "false allegations" of corruption to cover up its "betrayal" of people and as a "smokescreen" to shut down the previous government's public-welfare policies in Delhi.
"This is not governance -- it is sabotage," the AAP said.
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