Aam Aadmi Party MLAs on Friday trained guns at Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the ongoing session of the Delhi Assembly as they cited CAG reports on various Central government schemes including the construction of the Dwarka Expressway.
The BJP MLAs staged a walkout when their notice for a discussion on an alleged nexus between an AAP MLA and a gangster was not accepted by deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla who was in the Chair.
Starting the discussion on the alleged scam in the construction of Dwarka Expressway and other "irregularities" pointed out by the CAG in its report tabled in Parliament recently, AAP MLA Rituraj said the cost of the expressway increased from Rs 18 crore per km to Rs 250 crore per km.
"This seems to be a gold road," Rituraj said, and demanded the "scam" should be probed by the CBI or the Enforcement Directorate "although not much is expected from them".
Participating in the debate, AAP MLA from Model Towan Durgesh Pathak also alleged there was a scam in the construction of the expressway as well as in the Ayushman Bharat Health scheme.
AAP MLA Praveen Kumar alleged the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has pointed out various "scams" in BJP-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarkhand.
The BJP leaders returned to the House after sometime and Leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri urged the Deputy Speaker to allow them to participate in the discussion.
But, Birla did not allow them to speak, observing, "Whether Opposition members think this is some garden or cafe where they can come and go whenever they want." Speaking on the issue, Cabinet minister Imran Hussain said on one hand Prime Minister Modi talks out fighting corruption, but the CAG report has shown agencies of the Centre are involved in irregularities.
"While the Dwarka Expressway is being constructed at a cost 15 times higher than the estimated cost, the AAP government in Delhi has completed projects at costs lower than estimates and that too in time," Hussain stated.
Even as the minister spoke, the BJP MLAs protested over being denied the chance to participate in the discussion and continued to raise slogans.
The BJP legislators later in a press conference alleged that stopping them from debating in the House was "murder" of democracy.
The Leader of Opposition in the Assembly said the BJP MLAs wanted to dispel "misconceptions" regarding cost of the expressway.
"The expressway mentioned in the CAG report is a first eight-lane elevated road being constructed on a single pillar having four level interchanges. The project was awarded at Rs 5,269 crore which is estimated to be 12 per cent lower than the projected cost," Bidhuri claimed.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
