New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday alleged that Delhi LG V K Saxena misused his position and awarded a contract for interior designing of a Khadi lounge in Mumbai to his daughter when he was the KVIC chairman and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi “immediately” sack him.
The party called it a case of “moral corruption” by Saxena and claimed that “a financial angle” in it would also come out if “a fair and thorough” probe is conducted into the award of interior designing work to his daughter Shivangi Saxena.
The LG Secretariat has denied the charge and said Saxena’s daughter did the work pro bono.
Addressing a joint press conference with five party MLAs, AAP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh alleged, “LG V K Saxena, during his term as KVIC chairman, misused his position and awarded a contract for interior designing of a Khadi lounge in Mumbai to his daughter. In awarding the contract, he violated the provisions of the KVIC Act 1961.”
He said the prime minister should “immediately” sack Saxena as the Delhi LG and legal action should be taken against him for illegally awarding the contract to his daughter.
“The prime minister got only this tainted person (Saxena) in the country to appoint as Delhi LG? He must immediately be sacked,” Singh demanded.
“If he is not immediately removed from the post and an enquiry is set up, Prime Minister Modi will not have any right to speak even a word on parivarvaad (dynasty system),” he added.
Singh said the AAP is holding consultations with its senior lawyers and preparing to approach court in the matter.
“Delhi LG can’t escape his misdeeds. We will soon be approaching court in the matter because the due process of awarding the contract was not followed,” he said, asking “how can the KVIC chairman give a contract to his relative?”
Taking to Twitter, Singh had asked Saxena on Thursday if he had awarded a contract to his daughter without floating any tender when he was the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) chief.
Reacting to the AAP MP’s allegation, the LG’s office had tweeted that Saxena, as KVIC chairman, had got the design of the Khadi Lounge, Mumbai, made by his daughter, who is a designer, free of cost.
“It should be known that the Hon’ble Lt. Governor, as KVIC president, had got the design of Khadi Lounge, Mumbai, made free of cost (pro bono) requesting his daughter, who is a designer,” the Raj Niwas had clarified in a tweet, adding, “Contrary to your (Singh’s) statement, there was no tender for the design, and no one got the tender and instead, lakhs of rupees of KVIC were saved.”
Replying to questions on the Raj Niwas’s clarification, Singh said the KVIC Act clearly bars its officials from awarding any contract or work to any of their family members.
“What kind of logic is this? Saurabh Bharadwaj (AAP leader) who is a computer engineer, wants to do Central Vista IT work for free. Our Praveen Deshmukh (AAP MLA), who is an MBA, wants to take care of the management of the Prime Minister’s Office for free. Will they be given this work? he asked.
The AAP MP said KVIC should have followed a due process to award the work for interior designing of the Khadi lounge as per rules and if it wanted the work to be done free of cost, it should have given an open invitation to rope in the best interior designer.
“Whether due process was followed? Whether any tender was floated or an open invitation was given for free service of the interior designers for the work. Saxena’s daughter was the only best interior designer available in the country?” Singh asked.
He alleged that Saxena got the Mumbai Khadi lounge interior designing work done by his daughter and even got her name written in the inaugural plaque of the lounge for her professional gain.
The interior designing work was awarded to her even though she was not “much experienced”, Singh added.
AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj as well as the party’s legislators — Atishi and Durgesh Pathak — also held separate press conferences to demand sacking of Saxena and a probe against him in the matter.
“It’s a case of moral corruption and I am confident that some financial angle would also surface if a fair and impartial probe is conducted into it,” Pathak said.
Bharadwaj said Saxena should welcome a probe into accusations against him, as Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia did, and come out clean.
The AAP spokesperson took exception to the LG office issuing clarifications on allegations against Saxena through its official Twitter handle and called it “inappropriate”.
“He should give all the clarification in his personal capacity. It is not right to issue clarifications through the official (Twitter) handle of a constitutional post.” he said.
On Friday, the LG office in a tweet from its official handle shared a letter of KVIC, refuting the charge.
“The @kvicindia has issued a letter categorically stating that the entire cost of execution of the project of its Mumbai Lounge was Rs 27.3 lakh, contrary to fake figures being touted by leaders of a political party.”
The AAP leaders also reiterated their demand for a probe into alleged involvement of Saxena in changing of demonetised currencies worth Rs 22 lakh during his term as KVIC chief in 2016.
