New Delhi: The Monsoon Session of the Delhi Legislative Assembly entered a volatile fourth day on Thursday, as Chief Minister Rekha Gupta launched a blistering attack on the previous AAP government over financial mismanagement flagged in the CAG report.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta presented a detailed response to the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report on Delhi’s state finances for the year 2023–24 and blamed the previous AAP government for deliberate fiscal mismanagement. She accused the former administration of misusing public money in the name of free welfare schemes while neglecting critical infrastructure.
“The public had hoped that their tax money would be used for building roads, schools, and hospitals. Instead, their hard-earned income was diverted towards so-called free schemes,” said Rekha Gupta during her speech in the Assembly.
She revealed that in the financial year 2022–23, Delhi had a revenue surplus of Rs 4,566 crore, but the following year ended with a deficit of Rs 3,934 crore, resulting in a two-year deficit of Rs 8,600 crore. The Chief Minister said Rs 3,250 crore was spent on free electricity, Rs 482 crore on free bus rides, and Rs 463 crore on water supply, leaving almost no funding for permanent assets or public infrastructure.
She further accused the AAP of deliberately avoiding key development projects just because they were associated with the Prime Minister. “Such was the extent of their malice,” she said, calling it a betrayal of public trust. Referring to unutilised funds, the CM said, “Rs 2,400 crore was allocated by the Centre for hospital construction and Ayushman Arogya Mandirs, but not a single
rupee was spent.” She also said Rs 842 crore remained unused even after the end of the financial year, while schemes like PM SHRI, AMRUT, and Yamuna cleaning were completely ignored.
Rekha Gupta demanded that the CAG report be handed over to the Public Accounts Committee for an impartial probe to uncover how public money was spent. Leader of Opposition Atishi hit back sharply, accusing the BJP-led Central government of starving Delhi of its rightful tax share. She stated that the CAG report exposed not Delhi’s mismanagement, but the Centre’s discriminatory attitude.
“Delhiites contribute Rs 2.25 lakh crore in taxes every year, but Modi government returns only Rs 850 crore. And for the last three years, not even this amount has been given. The CAG report lays bare
the Centre’s step-motherly treatment of Delhi,” Atishi said inside the House.
She pointed out that Maharashtra received Rs 52,000 crore and Karnataka Rs 45,000 crore in tax returns, while Delhi, despite being the third-highest contributor, received nothing. “When I began exposing these facts, my mic was switched off. This is authoritarianism. The BJP is trying to suppress the Opposition’s voice,” she alleged.
Atishi said the CAG’s “Trends and Revenue Receipts” section confirmed that Delhi’s own tax revenue rose from Rs 40,019 crore in 2021–22 to Rs 53,681 crore in 2023–24.