AAP claims 'huge scam' in DDCA, Arun Jaitley's dismisses allegations

Aam Admi Party on Thursday called for Arun Jaitley’s resignation, alleging that the Union Finance Minister is involved in a “huge” scam and called for an impartial probe into the affairs of Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA). AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha said Jaitley had been running the DDCA like an “elite club.” The AAP leaders levelled a string of charges against Jaitley, who they alleged “had been siphoning off funds” for years as the DDCA chairman. In response to the accusations, Jaitley said, “I left cricket administeration in 2013. By referring to some facts of 2014 and 2015, I cannot be dragged.” Party leader Kumar Vishwas alleged that whenever it tried to expose irregularities in the matter, the Centre has interfered. [caption id=“attachment_2549386” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image courtesy: CNN-IBN screengrab[/caption] AAP claimed that a budget of Rs 24 crore was approved to construct a cricket stadium but Rs 114 crore was spent on it. The party also claimed that payments were made to companies which did not do the work which they were set up for. AAP leader Kumar Vishwas said that the scam involved siphoning off money through fake companies between 1999 and 2013, NDTV reported. Alleging that Jaitley appointed selectors without any proper criteria, the AAP said, “Only rich kids can play cricket for Delhi, and there is no place for the poor.” “Jaitley must resign to ensure fair probe by agencies some of which are under Finance Ministry,” Chadha said. The AAP’s hour-long news conference comes two days after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal claimed that his office was raided by the CBI. The agency had called principal secretary Rajendra Kumar for questioning, leading to yet another round of political mudslinging between the Centre and the Delhi government. On a question why the party was raising the issue now when the facts were already in public domain, AAP leader Ashutosh said, “If the issue has been in the public domain, what action has been taken about it?” The party did not specifically answer a query on why it did not file an FIR in this respect. The BJP, however, dismissed the allegations, saying that the charges were of a ‘hit-and-run’ nature and that the matter was sub-judice. With inputs from agencies