Sisodia alleges scam by Sarma, Assam CM denies

The BJP leader said the Delhi deputy CM would face criminal defamation for alleging that the former gave government contracts to firms run by his wife and son’s business partners to supply PPE kits above market rates in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic was raging across the country.

Delhi deputy chief minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia on Saturday alleged corruption by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during the Covid-19 pandemic even as Sarma denied the allegations and said that he will soon file a defamation suit against Sisodia.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa (left) hits back at corruption allegations levelled by Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia (right). 

Addressing a press conference, Sisodia referred to a report published by The Wire in collaboration with The Cross Current, and alleged that Sarma had given government contracts to firms run by his wife and son’s business partners to supply PPE kits above market rates in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic was raging across the country.

The AAP leader alleged that while the Assam government procured PPE kits for ₹600 a piece from other companies, Sarma gave urgent supply orders to the firms of his wife and son’s business partners for ₹990 and ₹1,680 a piece “taking advantage of the emergency situation”. Sisodia added that the firm belonging to Sarma’s wife does not even deal in medical equipment.

Soon after, Sarma refuted the allegations in a tweet, and warned that he will file a criminal defamation case against Sisodia. He said that his wife had donated 1,500 PPE kits to the government to save lives at a time when none was available in Assam. “At a time when the entire country was facing the worst pandemic in over 100 years , Assam hardly had any PPE Kits. My wife took the courage of coming forward and donating around 1500 free of cost to the govt to save lives. She didn’t take a single penny,” the Assam chief minister tweeted.

“Stop sermonising and I will see you soon in Guwahati as you will face criminal defamation,” Sarma tweeted.

Pijush Hazarika, Assam minister for information and public rlations, said there was no scam in the supply of PPE kits and no member of the chief minister’s family were involved in the supply of any material related to the Covid pandemic.The allegations are “false, imaginary, malicious and can be attributed as the handiwork of a certain section with vested interests,’’ Hazarika said, according to a PTI report.

The allegations by Sisodia come in the backdrop of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arresting Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain in connection with an alleged money laundering case. On Friday, the ED told the Delhi high court that Jain is only being questioned, and that he was not an accused in the case.

“On the orders of the BJP-led central government, the ED has arrested Jain without any solid proof. On the other hand, the central government has turned a blind eye towards the corruption being done by its own ministers. Making schools, providing world-class education and giving proper healthcare facilities is not corruption. Selling PPE kits at exorbitant rates during an emergency situation of pandemic is actual corruption. They better act first on their corrupt ministers rather than arresting ministers like Jain,” Sisodia said during the press conference.