BJP govt destroying official records to cover drain desilting scam: AAP leader

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has accused the BJP-led Delhi Government of deliberately destroying official records to conceal alleged corruption in multi-crore drain desilting works. Citing a recent RTI reply, AAP’s Delhi state president Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed that the Chief Secretary’s office denied receiving his formal complaint on the issue, despite copies of the letter being shared publicly with the media and on social media.

Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Bharadwaj said the RTI response “proves a criminal offence” and shows a clear attempt to protect former Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar from scrutiny. He alleged the government had been evading a Delhi High Court-mandated third-party audit of desilting projects.

“The BJP has been beating the drum for the last four months about desilting. Crores of rupees have been spent on it. Has there been massive corruption in this? For many days I have been saying that last year, BJP’s LG and their favourite Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, appointed by the Central Government, were repeatedly written to, citing the Delhi High Court’s order that all desilting works must undergo a third-party independent audit. This is a High Court order. Despite this, Naresh Kumar did not get the third-party audit done,” said the AAP Delhi chief.

He added that he had also raised the matter with the Union Home Ministry. “I also complained to the Union Home Ministry that despite repeated requests, Naresh Kumar was not conducting the third-party audit of desilting,” he said.

Bharadwaj linked the alleged irregularities to the Capital’s persistent waterlogging crisis, citing recent incidents where heavy rain submerged Connaught Place and other key areas, disrupted Raksha Bandhan celebrations and contributed to multiple tragedies, including a wall collapse that killed seven people and the drowning of a two-and-a-half-year-old child in an open sewer.

According to him, his June 13, 2024 letter to the Chief Secretary had sought details of the audit status, internal correspondence and file notings related to desilting works. “The RTI reply dated July 29, 2025 now claims the letter was never received,” he said. “I did not write secretly to the Chief Secretary. When this letter was written, I held a press conference and informed the press that a letter had been written to the Chief Secretary asking what happened to the third-party audit. The very next day, on June 14, I wrote to the Union Home Ministry of the Government of India. All these letters are available on social media and with journalists.”

The AAP leader alleged that the BJP government was “making official documents disappear” to shield those involved in the alleged scam. He said the RTI response and related documents would be shared with the media to “show the cover-up in plain sight.”