AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj alleges Rs 22,000 crore subsidised rice scam in Delhi

Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that the BJP government in the national capital had planned a “₹22,000 crore” subsidised rice scam that was to be carried out over three years.

Taking to social media platform X, he alleged that a corporation based in Assam and the Delhi government had sent a “formal request” to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) seeking “heavily subsidised rice” to be distributed among the poor in the national capital.

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However, he alleged that no such rice ever reached the poor and was instead sold to a private company in Haryana for profit.

Subsidised rice scam alleged

“A corporation based in Assam and the Delhi government sent a formal request to FCI to get heavily subsidised rice from FCI (Food Corporation of India). A huge quantity of 31,000 metric tons of rice per week was demanded to be distributed among the poor of Delhi,” Bharadwaj wrote in a post on X.

“This subsidised rice never reached even a single poor person. All the rice was sold to a private company in Haryana at heavy profits,” he added.

The AAP leader said this meant the Delhi government had planned “a scam of ₹143 crore per week was planned for 3 years”. “This was a planned scam of ₹22000 crore in 3 years,” he wrote.

He also shared a video of himself explaining the alleged scam. “The way the Delhi government and the Assam corporation were looting the people of Delhi, it was going to go on for three years,” Bharadwaj is heard saying in the video.

Sirsa’s department under fire

Manjinder Singh Sirsa is Delhi’s minister of food, supplies and consumer affairs. Bharadwaj claimed that Sirsa’s department had written to the FCI seeking 31,000 metric tonnes of rice every week to be sent to the Assam-based corporation. However, he alleged that instead of distributing the rice among poor people, the corporation was selling it to a private firm in Haryana for profit.

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“It can be said that the Assam-based corporation was earning a commission of ₹70 crore every week, and if this would have continued for three years, this loot would have been of around ₹11,000 crore,” he said in the video.

Bharadwaj also claimed that the Central government's vigilance department was the one that detected the alleged scam.