Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday accused Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of indulging in corruption by giving contracts to supply PPE kits above market rates to his wife’s firm and son’s business partners in 2020. The BJP leader, however, refuted the allegations and threatened to file a defamation case against the AAP leader.
Citing media reports, Mr. Sisodia at a press conference in New Delhi said Mr. Sarma, who was then the State Health Minister, gave contracts to JCB Industries, a firm in which Mr. Sarma’s wife is a partner, and his son’s business partners to supply PPE kits at ₹990 apiece. This was done despite the Assam government having the option to buy PPE kits at ₹600 apiece from other companies, he said.
“A company owned by a business partner of Mr. Sarma’s wife received orders to deliver 10,000 PPE kits at ₹2,205 per kit. Later, despite delivering incomplete supply of orders, these close associates of Mr. Sarma’s family were given more orders at ₹1,680 per kit,” the AAP leader said.
Demand for probe
Mr. Sisodia demanded an immediate investigation into the allegation. “This is a major crime by the Chief Minister of Assam and his close associates. This PPE kit scam is a solid corruption case and a crime by a BJP leader. However, the ED is after [Delhi Health Minister] Satyendar Jain who is working hard to provide quality healthcare to each resident of Delhi through mohalla clinics,” he said.
Responding to the allegation, Mr. Sarma said his wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma’s company had donated 1,500 PPE kits to the government during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a series of tweets, Mr. Sarma said his wife managed to save precious lives at a time when Assam did not have a single PPE kit. “My wife gathered the courage to come forward and donate around 1,500 kits free of cost to the government to save lives. She didn’t take a single penny,” he said.
The Chief Minister also attached a letter of appreciation dated March 2020 from the National Health Mission (NHM) to JCB Industries for donating 1,485 PPE kits as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative. “Stop sermonising. I will see you in Guwahati as you [Sisodia] will face criminal defamation,” Mr. Sarma said.
Replying to Mr. Sarma’s tweet, Mr. Sisodia shared the supply order of 5,000 kits at the rate of ₹990 from NHM to JCB Industries on March 18, 2020. “Honorable Chief Minister! Here is a contract to buy 5,000 kits from your wife’s JCB Industries at 990/- per kit… Tell me, is this paper false? Is it not corruption as a health minister to give a purchase order without a tender to your wife’s company?” Mr. Sisodia said.
In response, Mr. Sarma said that although the NHM had placed an order for the PPE kits, his wife’s company did not raise a bill and the kits were given free of cost. The BJP leader asked how he could be accused of corruption when not a single penny was transacted.
“Due to acute shortage then, every government including yours [Delhi government] waived the tender process for PPE kits and went for direct purchase… Don’t cherry pick from half the documents. Have the courage to put all the facts,” he said.
‘Unfounded claims’
Earlier, Ms. Sarma dismissed the charges as “unfounded”. She said in the first week of the pandemic, when not a single PPE kit was available in Assam, she had reached out to a business acquaintance and supplied about 1,500 PPE kits to the NHM.
“Later on, I wrote to the NHM to treat the same as a part of my CSR. I did not take a single penny. I have always been transparent about my belief in giving back to society, irrespective of my husband’s political standing,” she said.
Meanwhile, Opposition parties in Assam such as the Congress, the Raijor Dal and the Assam Jatiya Parishad have upped the ante against Mr. Sarma and have demanded a CBI or a judicial probe into the allegations.
