BJP Seeks Kejriwal’s “Arrest” Over Water Tanker Scam

Delhi BJP chief alleged that Kejriwal suppressed for 11 months the report of a fact-finding team into the scam.

Former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit will be questioned in Delhi Jal Board Tank scam. (Photo: Reuters)

Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay on Friday sought the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the water tanker scam, in an increasingly bitter fight with the Aam Aadmi Party, with two sides accusing each other of various scams and crimes.

Earlier, I had demanded his (Kejriwal’s) resignation and now I demand that the Delhi Police arrest him.

Satish Upadhyay, Delhi BJP President

He alleged that Kejriwal “suppressed” for 11 months the report of a fact-finding team that probed the alleged irregularities in hiring 385 stainless steel water tankers by the Delhi Jal Board in 2012 during the tenure of the Congress government headed by Sheila Dikshit.

Why payments to the private company were carried on for 17 months instead of cancelling it? Why Keshav Chandra, who was earlier private secretary to Dikshit, was made Chief Executive Officer of the Jal Board?

Satish Upadhyay, Delhi BJP President

BJP’s Lok Sabha member from south Delhi Ramesh Bhiduri also attacked the Delhi government and alleged that Kejriwal took Rs 92 crore from the private tanker company.

The AAP government in June 2015 had set up a five-member fact-finding committee to probe the alleged irregularities in hiring 385 stainless steel water tankers by the Delhi Jal Board in 2012 during Dikshit’s tenure.

The report was submitted to Kejriwal in August 2015 highlighting an alleged corruption of Rs 400 crore in the process of awarding tenders for hiring water tankers, and recommended FIR against Dikshit, and a further probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ACB.

Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung forwarded the Delhi government’s complaint on Dikshit’s alleged role in the water tanker scam to the Anti-Corruption Bureau on Thursday. The LG was responding to a complaint sent to his office by Delhi’s Water Minister Kapil Mishra.

We have received a complaint against Sheila Dikshit by Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra in connection with the water tanker scam. That complaint has been forwarded to the ACB for appropriate action.

Official at the LG’s office

Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit rubbished allegations linking her to a Rs 400-crore water tanker scam, saying that it was a “politically motivated” accusation. This came after Lt Governor Najeeb Jung ordered Delhi government’s Anti Corruption Branch to probe the scam.

Dikshit also questioned the timing of the probe saying it was ordered when preparations for polls in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh were picking up momentum.

Dikshit accused AAP of trying to divert attention from its own MLA crisis in the assembly.

It was not my decision to procure water tankers. It was a collective decision by a board comprising DJB CEO, engineers and experts. A BJP MLA and two municipal councillors were also part of the decision making process.

Sheila Dikshit, Senior Congress Leader

The AAP also wrote to Jung demanding that he should make himself and Delhi Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) chief MK Meena co-accused in four cases pertaining to alleged scams during the Dikshit government.