NEW DELHI – The Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided several places on Tuesday, including the residence of AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj, as part of an investigation into an alleged scam involving the construction of hospitals. This is another blow to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The searches are happening because of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The lawsuit started with a long complaint submitted on August 22, 2024, by Vijender Gupta, who was then the Leader of the Opposition in Delhi. The Delhi Police’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) looked into the complaint, which says there is “large-scale corruption” in health infrastructure projects. The ACB says that in 2018–19, 24 hospital projects were approved, comprising 11 new “greenfield” and 13 “brownfield” developments. The total cost was expected to be ₹5,590 crore.
The ACB’s official statement says that these projects are “mired in inexplicable delays and astronomical cost overruns, indicating large-scale financial embezzlement.” The accusation accuses Saurabh Bharadwaj and former Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain and says they were part of a scheme to change project budgets and exploit public money for personal gain. The ACB also said that although though a lot of money was spent, many of the projects were not finished on time, and some are still not finished. For instance, the ICU Hospital Project, which costs ₹1,125 crore, is almost half done after over three years, even though it was supposed to be done in six months.
The AAP has released a statement saying that the case is “fake” in response to the raids. The party says the matter goes back to when Bharadwaj was not a minister. However, he has been in charge of important departments like Health, Urban Development, and Water. He was also the head of the Delhi Jal Board.
This is the most recent in a string of probes by central agencies into well-known AAP leaders. The ED has looked into and raided former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and senior leader Satyendar Jain for instances like the Delhi excise policy and the Jal Board fraud. The ED’s most recent step against Bharadwaj makes the political fight between the AAP and the national government even worse.