New Delhi, 09 August (H.S.): Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Sunday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Delhi government of allegedly plotting a major scam involving subsidised rice meant for the poor. Bharadwaj alleged that the government had planned to procure rice at subsidised rates for the poor and subsequently sell it to private entities for profit.

In a video shared on X, Bharadwaj claimed that the Delhi government, in coordination with an organisation in Assam, had devised a systematic plan to procure subsidised rice from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and subsequently divert it to private hands for profit.

He alleged that, under the purported scheme, a demand had been placed with the FCI for 31,000 metric tonnes of subsidised rice every week in the name of distributing it among poor residents of Delhi. However, he claimed that instead of reaching needy citizens in the national capital, the large quantity of rice was allegedly intended to be sold directly to a private company in Haryana at a substantial profit.

Citing figures to support his allegations, Bharadwaj claimed that the alleged irregularity was designed to generate a scam worth approximately Rs 143 crore every week. He further alleged that if the mechanism had remained operational for three years, it could have resulted in a massive institutional scam involving a total amount of around Rs 22,000 crore.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar