Graft taint on me baseless: North mayor

Says AAP politicising issue

Rejecting the alleged charges of corruption against her as baseless, North Delhi Municipal Corporation ( NDMC) mayor Preety Agarwal on Thursday said that the allegations against her carries “not truth” as the deliberative wing ( political wing) has no role in the tendering process.

Referring to a report published in this newspaper, lieutenant- governor Anil Baijal on Thursday directed a vigilance inquiry into the alleged corruption charges against Ms Agarwal. AAP leader Dilip Pandey, citing the news report, also demanded the resignation of Ms Agarwal and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari.

Terming the Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) charges baseless, Ms Agarwal claimed that there is no truth in it.

“They ( AAP) do not even know that the deliberative wing has no role in the tendering process. It is all done by the executive wing,” added Ms Agarwal.

She said that the charges levelled against her are an attempt to divert attention from the core issues and within AAP.

“I am ready for any kind of inquiry or investigation so that the truth comes to the fore,” she said.

Coming to the defence of Ms Agarwal, Delhi BJP general secretary Ravinder Gupta said, “AAP masters the art of spreading canards to mislead the political discourse. Today, two examples of their cheap tactics are again before us.”

“AAP has attempted to level baseless allegations of corruption against the NDMC mayor with the intent to divert public attention from the concrete allegations of corruption against Delhi minister Satyendra Jain as part of AAP’s dirty politics. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal should realise that people of Delhi now understand his dirty relations with tainted Mr Jain,” Mr Gupta added.

Clarifying the party’s stand against corruption, Mr Gupta said, “The BJP has zero tolerance towards corruption and we will not buckle under the pressure of AAP leader’s baseless allegations. We will continue our agitation demanding Mr Jain’s dismissal.” corruption