The Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) 14 outstanding reports will be presented to the assembly today by Delhi’s newly elected administration. According to the BJP, the reports will focus on the financial misconduct and corruption of the previous Arvind Kejriwal-led administration. The lieutenant governor’s speech will be followed by the presentation of these reports. This has already been prepared for by the Assembly.

The Delhi excise policy case, the renovation of Kejriwal’s home during his time as chief minister, and problems including air and Yamuna pollution are just a few of the topics covered in the papers. In addition, they include a summary of the state’s finances, public health facilities, automobile emissions, alcohol control, and the operations of the Delhi Transport Corporation under Kejriwal’s direction.

The AAP administration allegedly suppressed these reports, according to the BJP. Rekha Gupta, the chief minister of Delhi, said last Thursday that during the first session of the new administration, all reports will be made public. During the AAP administration, the BJP had made repeated demands for the publication of these reports, even going so far as to ask the courts to order the government to make them public.

The BJP has said that the AAP administration is purposefully holding up the reports in order to hide suspected corruption, pointing out that the delay is an effort to hide evidence of financial mismanagement. During the Assembly elections, this became a significant topic. In his election rallies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said that these reports would be made public as soon as the BJP took office.

The remodeling of the Chief Minister’s official mansion on 6 Flagstaff Road, which the BJP has dubbed the “Sheesh Mahal,” is one of the major reports that is being looked into. Large-scale problems in the project’s design, tendering, and implementation are purportedly revealed by the audit. The project’s initial approval cost was 7.61 crore rupees in 2020; however, by April 2022, the cost had risen to 33.66 crore rupees, a 342% increase. These results have been used by the Congress and the BJP to accuse former Chief Minister Kejriwal of embezzlement of public money.

Concerned about the non-disclosure of these papers, Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena had earlier called for the Assembly to hold a special session in December of last year. Nevertheless, these reports were not provided throughout the five years of the AAP government’s rule, which heightened calls for their publication.