The AAP on Thursday accused the opposition of raking up the Shunglu Committee report issue to divert attention from what it called the "EVM fraud" and asked why a similar committee was not set up to probe irregularities in Delhi's municipal corporations.Talking to reporters here, Aam Aadmi Party leader Dilip Pandey also questioned the timing of the report being made public and said if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled central government actually had evidence against the AAP, it should send all its leaders to jail.Pandey's remarks came after Delhi Congress President Ajay Maken on Thursday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the Shunglu Committee report that has accused the AAP government of irregularities and nepotism in making appointments and abuse of power."Every time the elections approach, BJP and Congress make baseless allegations against us, which are forgotten immediately after elections are over. This happened in 2015 assembly polls, 2014 Lok Sabha elections as well as in 2013," Pandey said.Pandey said the ruling BJP was finding it impossible to respond to the "EVM fraud" being exposed by the AAP, backed with "solid evidence", and was trying to divert public attention now.
The AAP had been consistently claiming that the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were not tamper-proof and were actually manipulated during the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.Pandey accused both the Congress and BJP of looting the municipal corporations for the last 20 years and asked them why no committee was set up to probe that."If you (opposition parties) have evidence against us, then stop this drama and just place it before the public and hang us, or send us to jail. But who will probe and hang those plundering the municipal corporations?" Pandey said.AAP leader Ashutosh said the issue was being raised as both opposition parties did not want any discussions on the AAP's work in the field of education, health, providing free water and cheap electricity to the people of Delhi.Referring to the Shunglu Committee report that said rules were flouted to allot a bunglow at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg or erstwhile Rouse Avenue to set up the AAP's office, Ashutosh said: "Now they want a recognised party having its government in the state not to even have an office.""No one asks how the Congress having zero seats in the Delhi assembly could have an office in Delhi. Or how the BJP having just three seats also has an office in Delhi."
Ashutosh said there were no irregularities but only differences of opinion between the Delhi government and the Lt Governor's office which the report talks about."We disagreed with the Lt Governor's interpretation of rules that we need his approval for some of our decisions. So we did not send certain files to him."Ashutosh said after the Delhi High Court order in August 2016, which recognised the Lt Governor as the administrative head of Delhi, no such decisions were subsequently taken without his approval.The three-member Shunglu Committee, headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) V.K. Shunglu, was set up by then Lt Governor Najeeb Jung after the High Court order.The report, which has been accessed by the IANS, questioned the appointment of Health Minister Satyendar Jain's daughter Soumya Jain to the post of advisor to Mission Director in the Delhi government's Mohalla Clinic project.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.The committee also questioned a cabinet decision of allotting government-owned 206, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg bungalow to the AAP as its office.