Delhi polls: Tharoor alleges financial irregularities, asks AAP govt for answers

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday raised questions over the construction of classrooms and purchase of anti-pollution masks in Delhi by the AAP government and demanded answers for alleged financial irregularities.

Another Congress leader Sharmistha Mukherjee alleged that Delhi had become the “rape capital” under the Modi and Kejriwal governments. “The Aam Aadmi Party started off claiming to combat corruption. Would they care to explain where this money went?” Tharoor asked on Twitter.

He said the Delhi governmet undertook a construction of 12,782 classrooms for a total expenditure of ₹2,892 crore and sought to know how much did a classroom cost. “Our people have estimated that all of this could have been done comfortably for a maximum spending of ₹800 crore, whereas ₹2,892 crore have been spent. Do we have a ₹2,000-crore scam on our hands here?” he asked in a video posted on Twitter.

Tharoor also alleged financial irregularities in the AAPs procurement of anti-pollution masks for school children. “Did they charge the taxpayer all that they spent? Did they charge the taxpayer more than they should have spent?” he asked. “Did they give the children anti-pollution masks that could actually protect the children? These financial irregularities must be addressed forthwith.”

Tharoor accused the AAP of spending more public money on advertising and marketing than on development. “Not a single new hospital opened in 5 years; existing government hospitals neglected. Promised to open 1,000 Mohalla Clinics; (but) opened 189, of which 100 defunct. Delhi has the worst water quality in India,” Tharoor tweeted.

Mukherjee, meanwhile, alleged that incidents of rapes had risen in Delhi under the Modi and Kejriwal governments. “The no. of rapes in 2012 when protests against Nirbhaya erupted was 706,” she tweeted. “In 2019 (till 15 Nov), it was 1947. In 2018 it was 2121. Delhi has become the rape capital of India under Modi and Kejriwal governments.”