Ration card cancellation AAP, BJP blame each other for graft

New Delhi: The ruling AAP in Delhi and the opposition BJP locked horns on Tuesday over the cancellation of 2.9 lakh ration cards, alleging one another of "corruption" and trying to benefit vested interests.

BJP legislator and Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta alleged that the Delhi government was trying to hand over ration distribution to private companies to benefit AAP and its workers.

"It is a deep-rooted conspiracy of corruption to help AAP and its workers by giving ration distribution rights to some private company."

He claimed that the identification of fake ration card holders has resulted in saving of 58,000 quintals of wheat and rice, leading to a saving of Rs 7-8 crore per month.

"The aggressive opposition by Kejriwal shows that his party and party men will be denied benefit due to cancellation of bogus ration cards," he charged.

The Delhi government on Monday alleged that Food Commissioner Mohanjeet Singh has decided to cancel more than 2.9 lakh ration cards without proper inspection. Rejecting the government's allegation, Singh had said 2.48 lakh "ineligible" ration card holders have been deleted after following "due process of law".

Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj accused BJP of being "hand-in-glove" with the ration mafia and adopting "anti-poor" character. It is extremely shocking that the BJP is defending the officers responsible for "large-scale corruption" in ration distribution system in Delhi, he accused.

He claimed that in the month of April, the Delhi government had detected a scam and had asked the lieutenant governor for a probe into it.

"AAP challenges the BJP and their LG to make public what action was taken on the evidence provided by the elected government of Delhi," he said.