Equipped with Shunglu Report, Maken hammers Kejriwal's 'honest' image

The Congress Party on Thursday hammered Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's honest image over the Shunglu Committee report and demanded that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor should immediately resign from his post.

Addressing a press conference here, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) President Ajay Maken highlighted the irregularities found in the Shunglu Committee report, which he claimed to have received through Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Maken said that the Kejriwal government had flouted the rules and provided accommodation for its MLAs.

"It may be noted that, in Delhi, no MLA but only Ministers are eligible for government accommodation," said Maken.

Citing another example of nepotism, the Congress leader said the committee raised questions on the appointment of Nikunj Agarwal, a relative of Chief Minister Kejriwal's wife, as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Health Minister Satyender Jain.

Maken said that the committee has also found irregularity in appointment of Soumya Jain, who is the daughter of Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain and an architect by profession, as an advisor in the Mohalla clinic project.

"One Abhinav Rai, an AAP member, was appointed OSD to Minister, Transport and is drawing monthly salary of Rs 87000. Kejriwal ignored the pending criminal case against Rai," said Maken.

"Various ministers and AAP functionary/ DDC Chairperson enjoyed foreign tours on public money. Crores of rupees were spent from the coffers of the Delhi Government to fund these tours. No prior sanction of the LG was taken before the ministers/ officials went for these tours."

Maken said the report has found that Kejriwal gave plum postings in various bodies to unqualified members.

For example, Maken said, " A large number of posts were created in the Delhi Dialogue Commission (DDC) to accommodate relatives and AAP volunteers, without issuing invitation to general public".

Demanding a Supreme Court monitored Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry against Kejriwal, Maken demanded immediate resignation of Kejriwal for misusing public resources and his official position against the interest of the people of Delhi.

He announced that the Congress supporters and workers on Friday would stage a protest against AAP in all 272 wards of Delhi and make people aware about the AAP government's "wrongdoing" as highlighted in the Shunglu Committee report.