In a damning disclosure, the Aam Aadmi Party has revealed that the BJP-led Delhi Government orchestrated a cover-up in the multi-crore drain desilting scam, pointing to deliberate destruction of official records to bury evidence of corruption. Citing an RTI reply from the Chief Secretary’s Office claiming it never received his formal complaint on the matter—despite copies being in the possession of the media—AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj said this amounts to a criminal offence. He questioned why, despite a High Court order, the government is evading a third-party audit of desilting works and refusing to answer repeated queries on the issue.
In a press conference, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj said that for the past several days, whenever it has rained in Delhi, the city’s streets have been completely submerged. “We have even seen waterlogging in Connaught Place. Yesterday, on the day of Rakhi, sisters were stuck for three to four hours on the roads, waiting to tie rakhis. Everyone saw this. Seven people died in one incident when a wall collapsed due to waterlogging. It was raining, there was waterlogging, and the wall fell because of it. Among those who died were two children, two women, and three men.”
“In another heart-wrenching case, a two-and-a-half-year-old child stepped out of his home. Two-and-a-half hours later, when his sisters went searching for him to tie a rakhi, CCTV footage showed that their little brother had drowned in an open sewer right outside his house. That child never got to have a rakhi tied to him,” Bharadwaj said.
Raising questions, he said, “The BJP has been beating the drum for the last four months about desilting. Crores of rupees have been spent on it. Has there been massive corruption in this? For many days I have been saying that last year, BJP’s LG and their favourite Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, appointed by the Central Government, were repeatedly written to, citing the Delhi High Court’s order that all desilting works must undergo a third-party independent audit. This is a High Court order. Despite this, Naresh Kumar did not get the third-party audit done.”
The former Delhi Urban Development Minister noted, “I also complained to the Union Home Ministry that despite repeated requests, Naresh Kumar was not conducting the third-party audit of desilting. When the desilting report was demanded, why was it not provided to the Minister? What is being hidden? On this, the Home Ministry remained silent, the LG remained silent, and the BJP remained silent for the entire past year.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “This year, I wrote a letter to Rekha Gupta stating that last year there was a High Court order requiring a third-party audit of desilting works. I asked her to inform me if the audit had been conducted. Rekha Gupta did not reply to the letter. Finally, I filed an RTI in my own name regarding the directions I gave to the Chief Secretary on June 13, 2024, to conduct a third-party audit of desilting as per the High Court order.”
“An Urban Development Minister had written to the Chief Secretary multiple times seeking the report and status of desilting. When I did not receive a response from the Chief Secretary, I wrote a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, complaining about this matter, but even then no action was taken,” he noted.
The AAP Delhi State President said, “In my RTI application, dated July 21, 2025—fifteen days ago—asked for details of the action taken by the Chief Secretary of Delhi on the complaint dated 13.06.2024 regarding the deliberate failure to conduct a third-party audit of desilting works in Delhi.”
“Additionally, I sought a certified copy of the complete file notings, internal correspondence, remarks, and all documents related to the handling, movement, and processing of the complaint. Give the file noting of what directions the Chief Secretary gave on this matter. If the third-party audit was done, what came out of it? Give the complete details so that the corruption can be exposed,” he added.
“This RTI reply, dated July 29, 2025, came from the Chief Secretary’s office. The reply states: ‘The undersigned had received the RTI application in this office on 28-7-2025. In this regard, it is to inform you that, as per letter monitoring record available at [email protected], the reference letter diary number 5224/1752 was not received in the Chief Secretary’s office.’ This means that now the Delhi Government is making official documents disappear, destroying them,” Saurabh Bhardwaj asserted.
The AAP Delhi Unit Chief pointed out, “This is the letter that I did not write secretly to the Chief Secretary. When this letter was written, I held a press conference and informed the press that a letter had been written to the Chief Secretary asking what happened to the third-party audit. The very next day, on June 14, I wrote to the Union Home Ministry of the Government of India. All these letters are available on social media and with journalists. I have taken these letters from social media.”
Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “And today, the BJP government of Delhi is saying they have no information that such a letter or direction was ever written to Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar on June 13, 2024. They say he never received it. This is a complete attempt to hide corruption, to shield former Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, and to destroy documents to cover it up. It is all in front of everyone. These RTIs and their replies from the Delhi Chief Secretary’s office will be made available to all.
“I want Rekha Gupta’s government to be asked: what mess is going on inside the Delhi Government? We have never heard of such wrongdoing before,” said Saurabh Bharadwaj.
