NEW DELHI: Delhi legislative assembly speaker Vijender Gupta on Tuesday marshalled eight opposition MLAs out of the House after they sought an urgent discussion on alleged large-scale irregularities in the distribution of subsidised foodgrains.The opposition’s demand came amid allegations by AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj of a Rs 22,000 crore scam involving subsidised rice meant for the city’s poor. The BJP-led Delhi government rejected the allegations.Delhi minister and BJP national secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa criticised the opposition’s conduct in the Assembly, particularly after an MLA allegedly threw rice towards officials and members. Sirsa said the incident was “inappropriate” and amounted to contempt of the House.The Speaker also censured the act, calling it entirely inappropriate and unacceptable.Bharadwaj had on Sunday alleged that a corporation based in Assam and the Delhi government had formally approached the Food Corporation of India (FCI) for heavily subsidised rice.He claimed that 31,000 metric tonnes of rice per week was sought for distribution among poor people in Delhi and alleged that the proposed arrangement could have resulted in the diversion of subsidised foodgrain.According to Bharadwaj, the alleged diversion amounted to Rs 143 crore a week and was planned to continue for three years, taking the alleged scam’s value to around Rs 22,000 crore.He further alleged that the subsidised rice did not reach beneficiaries and was instead sold to a private company in Haryana at a substantial profit.The allegations have triggered a political confrontation between the AAP and the BJP-led Delhi government, with the opposition seeking a discussion in the Assembly.Meanwhile, Bharadwaj, along with AAP MLAs Sanjeev Jha and Kuldeep Kumar, had earlier met Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ashok Kumar over the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.Bharadwaj alleged that several eligible voters, particularly those living in villages and JJ clusters, had not received enumeration forms. He also claimed that genuine voters were being incorrectly marked as “shifted” and removed from the electoral rolls.
