Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Atishi on Tuesday came to the defense of the axed new liquor policy. She said that the CAG report laid bare the corruption in the previous liquor policy, not the new one. She said people in Delhi were at a loss due to liquor being smuggled from surrounding states. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however, asserted the report indicted AAP’s alleged scams.
CAG Report Exposes Loss to Delhi Exchequer
The CAG report, which was placed in the Delhi Assembly by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, alleged that the previous government’s alcohol policies inflicted a cumulative loss of more than ₹2002 crore on the exchequer of the national capital.
“The excise audit report was presented in the Delhi assembly today. Its seven chapters are on the excise policy from 2017-21, and one chapter is on the new excise policy. The Delhi government had exposed the flaws and corruption of the old excise policy to the people of Delhi. Under that policy, liquor was brought illegally from Haryana and UP… This report is repeating the same thing that we said that the people of Delhi are incurring losses due to the old policy,” said Atishi, as reported by news agency ANI.
Atishi Claims Report Upholds Vintage Liquor Policy Corruption
Atishi asserted that the CAG report endorsed AAP’s position that corruption afflicted the liquor business under the former policy.
“This report has confirmed our point. There was corruption in how much liquor was being sold. This report shows that more than 28 percent of corruption was being done by the contractors, and the money was going into the pockets of the brokers. This report shows that black marketing of liquor was happening, and everyone knew which party people had the liquor contracts. The liquor contractors made profits by incorrectly calculating the cost price,” she further added.
BJP Hits Out at AAP, Calls It a Scam
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva claimed that the report revealed AAP’s tainted practices in the liquor trade.
“This CAG report exposes the black deeds of Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and AAP. It tells how AAP looted and scammed the people of Delhi…how they opened shops at residential and religious places,” he claimed.
Weak Policy Framework Led to Losses
The CAG report held the weak policy framework and poor implementation responsible for the losses.
“Audit noted that due to several issues ranging from weak policy framework to deficient implementation of the policy…there was a cumulative loss of approximately 2,002.68 crore,” the document added.
The new alcohol policy, launched in 2021, was shelved in 2022 after Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena called for an investigation into suspected corruption over its implementation.
