‘Arrest us or apologise’: Manish Sisodia rubbishes Manoj Tiwari's 'Rs 2,000 crore scam' charge

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Pary (BJP) hours after state BJP chief Manoj Tiwari accused him and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of being involved in a scam worth Rs 2,000 crore in the construction of schools. The deputy CM also challenged Tiwari to arrest them or apologise to the public.

“I want to challenge Manoj Tiwari and BJP, if an accused of Rs 2,000 crore scam is roaming free in Delhi, nothing can be more shameful for you. If Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia have committed scam, arrest them. Either arrest me by the evening or apologise to the public,” ANI quoted Sisodia as saying.

Sisodia’s reaction came after Tiwari, addressing a press conference on Monday, said the AAP government had overpaid for the construction of classrooms and that many of those contracts were bagged by the relatives of party leaders.

"मैं चुनौती देता हूँ @ManojTiwariMP को कि अगर मैंने कोई घोटाला किया है तो मुझे आज शाम तक घोटाले के आरोप में गिरफ़्तार करें या फिर दिल्ली के लोगों से माफ़ी माँगे। दिल्ली के पेरेंट्स से, दिल्ली के बच्चों से माफ़ी माँगें जिनके लिए ये स्कूल बन रहे हैं"- @msisodia pic.twitter.com/u73SdNXyAv

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) July 1, 2019

“We’re exposing a scam in which Delhi CM and deputy CM are involved. An RTI has revealed that extra Rs 2,000 crore was given for constructions of rooms in schools that could’ve been constructed in only Rs 892 crore. 34 contractors were given the task, including their relatives,” Tiwari alleged.

Tiwari also said the party would appeal to the Lokpal for investigation of this corruption.

“Rs 8,800 per square feet has been shelled out to construct rooms of the school. If one compares this with the construction of flats, one can buy flats for a lesser price than this mount. A top of the line five-star hotel also has real estate value of Rs 5,000 per square feet. This is Kejriwal and Sisodia’s face of corruption,” he said.

Tiwari also raised an alarm on the quality of construction material being used by the government. “They have used a really cheap way to construct the rooms of the school as per our findings. We will be appealing to the Lokpal for investigation of this corruption,” Ti wari said.

On Sunday, Sisodia challenged senior BJP leaders JP Nadda and Vijay Goel to compare the top 10 government schools in BJP-ruled states with the ones under the AAP government and then debate.

The challenge by Sisodia came in response to Bharatiya Janata Party working president JP Nadda's claims, on Saturday, that the ruling AAP in Delhi had become "a laughing stock", as he exuded confidence that his party will form the next government in Delhi as the city needs a leadership with "serious vision".

In retort, Sisodia said the BJP's working president was ridiculing the people of Delhi, by calling the AAP-led Delhi government a laughing stock.

"I challenge @JPNadda & @VijayGoelBJP to choose top 10 govt schools of BJP education model from any BJP state. I'll choose top 10 govt schools of Kejriwal education model. I'll visit your schools, you can visit ours. Let's then debate- what's laughing stock and what makes one cry (sic)," Sisodia tweeted.