AAP alleges Rs 71 crore MGNREGA scam in Gujarat

Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Punjab in-charge Manish Sisodia on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the BJP, accusing it of shielding corruption under its much-touted ‘Gujarat Model’. He alleged that the sons of Gujarat’s Panchayati Raj Minister Bachu Khabad embezzled Rs 71 crore through fake MGNREGA contracts in Dahod district, without executing any actual work.

Sisodia said that despite the arrest of the minister’s sons, Baldev and Kiran, along with their cousin, the BJP government in Gujarat had not taken any action against the minister himself.

“There has been no inquiry by the CBI or the ED, while the minister continues to remain in office. What is the BJP trying to hide?” he asked.

Drawing a sharp contrast with AAP’s own governance record, Sisodia said, “Yesterday in Punjab, when an AAP MLA was found involved in corruption, the Bhagwant Mann-led government, under the guidance of Arvind Kejriwal, immediately took action and had him arrested. This is the kind of zero-tolerance approach we follow, regardless of the person involved.”

He went on to highlight the alleged scam in Gujarat, stating that the fraudulent companies were floated by the minister’s sons to corner MGNREGA contracts meant to generate rural employment.

“No work was done, no jobs were created, yet Rs 71 crore was looted. And this is just from two tehsils — imagine what an audit of all tehsils might uncover,” he said.

Sisodia questioned why Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had not intervened, claiming that “no significant decision in Gujarat was taken without their approval”.

He further asked if the silence from the top leadership was a sign of complicity? Saying the current investigation was a mere “eyewash”, he said the Gujarat Police may eventually let the accused walk free.

“Why are only two talukas being probed? Is it because a larger investigation would uncover scams worth thousands of crores?” he asked.

The AAP leader said the BJP’s Gujarat model was being exposed as a model of loot and impunity. While AAP takes action against its own, the BJP shields the corrupt in power, he said.