BJP alleges scam in Delhi govt's procurement of LED street lights

Delhi BJP legislators on Tuesday met the CBI director here, alleging a "scam" in the procurement of 210,000 LED street lights by the city government, a charge denied by the ruling AAP.

The BJP delegation, headed by the Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, demanded a probe into the alleged scam involving Rs 100 crore.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) hit back, saying the BJP is running a "factory of lies".

"The BJP has started a factory of lies. In the last 4.5 years, they have filed two dozen cases against Delhi government, with the CBI Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB). Despite the fact that the BJP-ruled central government controls these agencies, nothing has been found," AAP chief spokesperson and party MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj said.

Gupta, in a statement, said the BJP MLAs met CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla at his office and submitted a memorandum regarding the "scam" in procurement of LED street lights for dark spots.

"Delhi government did not entrust the work to the municipal corporations whose mandate is to install street lights. It (government) arbitrarily chose to outsource the tendering process to the power discoms that are private players," Gupta alleged.

He claimed that the tenders were floated by the discoms to procure 210,000 LED lights.

Bhardwaj said the discoms were executing agencies that invited tenders from open market.

The street lights being installed are LED lights and they are far more economical than those being installed by the BJP-ruled municipal corporations in the city.

Gupta also alleged that the LED lights procured by the Delhi government through the discoms were costlier and have shorter warranty periods than those available in open market.

No immediate reaction was available from the power discoms.