The Aam Aadmi party which is still grappling with the Somnath Bharti episode, is in fresh trouble after allegations that Delhi’s Deputy CM, Manish Sisodia had “favoured” some of his relatives for contracts of government advertisements.
“We’ve received some complaints that most of Delhi government’s advertising contracts were given out to the relatives of Sisodia,” Delhi anti-corruption bureau chief MK Meena told reporters.
Meena said the bureau was going through the complaints to verify the charge and that a notice had been issued to the Directorate of Information & Publicity (DIP), Delhi.
According to reports, the party reportedly set aside over Rs 500 crore to fund its radio advertisements over the current financial year. The ads, that have been running with the tagline ‘Jo Kaha, So Kiya’ across Delhi, refer to his party’s pre-poll promises and the steps taken by the government to implement them.
“They (Delhi government) have set aside Rs 526 crore just for information and publicity and last year only Rs 24 crore was spent for the same,” said Congress leader Ajay Maken.
“They have cut budget from various other infrastructure development works and they are spending money on their own party workers and consultants. Is it not a form of corruption by spending more money on self publicity?,” Maken asked.
(With inputs from agencies)