BJP files writ petition against AAP for not implementing Ayushman Bharat

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The Delhi BJP MPs have filed a writ petition in the High Court against the AAP government's decision to not implement the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme in Delhi, state president Virendra Sachdeva said on Wednesday.

In a press conference, Sachdeva slammed the AAP and its convener Arvind Kejriwal for depriving lakhs of eligible people in Delhi of the Centre's health insurance scheme.

Addressing the issue in a press conference earlier in the day, Kejriwal alleged that the Ayushman Bharat scheme is riddled with scams according to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

He also said the scheme does not require to be implemented in the national capital as health services here are provided free of cost by his government.

"This is not my opinion, this is what the CAG says; there are many scams in the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. Treatment under this scheme will only happen when the patient is hospitalised, but there are no conditions regarding hospitalisation in Delhi," Kejriwal said.

"Everything, from medicines costing Rs 5 to operations costing Rs 1 crore, is free. If medicines, tests, and treatment are all free in Delhi, then there is no need for the Ayushman Bharat Scheme here. Modi ji should study the Delhi scheme and implement it across the country," he charged.

A slugfest ensued between the BJP and AAP over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's criticism of governments in Delhi and West Bengal on Tuesday for not implementing the scheme.

Sachdeva claimed that it was announced earlier by then deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the Delhi Assembly that the Ayushman Bharat scheme will be implemented in the national capital. He slammed the AAP for going back on its promise.

He said the BJP will now fight a legal battle to ensure that the benefits of the scheme are available to the elderly and other eligible persons in Delhi.