leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta on Thursday said he will approach CBI and lokayukta seeking a probe into the AAP Government's alleged expenditure of over `110 crore on advertisements as compared to `27.43 crore spent on it in the last fiscal.
Gupta claimed that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has pointed out “glaring irregularities” in advertisement spending and said he will file a case with CBI and Delhi lokayukta.
Claiming that the Delhi Government had “failed” to provide committed liability in respect of print and outdoor media, the BJP leader alleged, “In spite of this, the actual cost of advertisements released during 2015-16 will go beyond `114.21 crore. This is far above the total expenditure of `27.43 crore during 2014-15.”
Quoting the purported CAG report, he claimed the Delhi government spent `86.78 crore more during 2015-16 which is a record in itself. The actual figure may be much more as the entire record was not made available for audit.
“Over 85 per cent of expenditure of `33.40 crore incurred on one specific publicity campaign pertained to advertisements released outside of Delhi which was beyond the responsibility of the city Government.
“Out of the total expenditure of `33.40 crore incurred on publicity campaigns, only `4.69 crore pertain to Delhi's publication and `28.71 crore to other states/cities,” he said while quoting from the CAG report which is yet to be made public.
Gupta said he will file a case with Delhi lokayukta and CBI against the AAP Government for “illegally spending” crores of rupees on “misleading” ads and demand strict legal action. “Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has committed contempt of the House by making wrong statement and, in view of this, the Assembly Speaker should punish him,” he said.