Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia refute corruption allegations raised by BJP legislator
Manoj Tiwari alleged that the Delhi government had spent an additional Rs 2,000 crore on the construction of classrooms.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia on Monday dared the Bharatiya Janata Party to arrest them if they were involved in corruption.
Kejriwal and Sisodia were responding to allegations raised by BJP MP Manoj Tiwari who claimed that an additional Rs 2,000 crore was spent on the construction of classrooms in the national capital when they could have been constructed at Rs 892 crore. Tiwari cited a Right to Information reply to make the claims. “Thirty four contractors were given the task include their [Kejriwal’s and Sisodia’s] relatives,” ANI quoted him as saying.
Tiwari claimed Rs 8,800 per square feet was paid to construct classrooms. “A top of the line five-star hotel also has real estate value of Rs 5,000 per square feet. This is Kejriwal and Sisodia’s face of corruption.”
Tiwari also raised concerns on the quality of construction, claiming the Delhi government used “a really cheap way to construct the classrooms as per out findings”. “The chief minister and deputy chief minister should straightaway resign after these findings have come to light. We will be appealing to the Lokpal for investigation of this corruption.” Tiwari said the Delhi unit of the BJP would hand over proof of the scam to the Lokpal.
Kejriwal questioned the BJP leader’s claims. “BJP’s CBI went through our files, but did not find anything,” he said on Twitter. “If there has been a scam, we should be arrested immediately. All the agencies are with you. Why do you want to stop the poor from getting good education?”
Sisodia challenged Tiwari to arrest him. “I challenge Manoj Tiwari to arrest me if I have been involved in a scam,” Sisodia said on Twitter. “Either arrest me by this evening or apologise to the people of Delhi. Apologise to the parents in Delhi and the children, for whom the school was being built.”
The deputy chief minister also dared Tiwari to compare the 10 best schools in BJP-led states with the 10 best schools in Delhi. “Everything will be clear,” he said. “Do you have the courage?”
Sisodia said: “The BJP cannot tolerate that a poor person’s child, a rickshaw driver’s child, a maid’s child studying in such a grand government school will become a powerful person. This is happening in Delhi right now.”