AAP alleges ‘major scam’ in DEVi buses, seeks CBI probe

CM Rekha Gupta and Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan flagged off 400 buses on Friday.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

A political row erupted in the Capital over the launch of 400 Delhi Electric Vehicle Interconnector (DEVi) buses, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday alleging a “major scam” in the procurement process and demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe.

Addressing a press conference, AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed the buses, flagged off by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday, were the same ‘Mohalla Buses’ procured by AAP when it was in power in October 2024, but were shelved for violating the 50% ‘Make in India’ clause.

“If they were non-compliant then, how are they compliant now? Were the parts replaced? Was there a new tender? Or did compliance just magically happen?” Mr. Bharadwaj said. He accused the BJP government of corruption, saying, “We don’tyet know if the wrongdoing was at the bureaucratic or political level, but this warrantsa CBI investigation. This involves thousands of crores in public money.”

“This is just like the water tanker episode. The BJP is falsely claiming credit for what was already done,” he said.

The BJP dismissed the allegations as AAP’s “political desperation”.Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said AAP had itself launched the buses without completing the due certification and documentation.

“When the buses arrived under the DEVi Yojana, technical formalities were pending. AAP rushed the launch ahead of elections but never put them on the road,” he said.