NEW DELHI | The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday distributed pamphlets outside girls’ schools in every ward of Delhi, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Ashish Sood over the bicycle scam. Taking the protest a step further, AAP Delhi Unit President Saurabh Bharadwaj celebrated Ashish Sood’s birthday at Swami Nagar Government Girls School with the students. An AAP karyakarta wearing a mask of Ashish Sood cut the cake as the party wished the minister a happy birthday, while pamphlets were distributed to students and their parents during school dispersal, explaining how poor-quality bicycles were being purchased at inflated prices, resulting in the loot of public money.
The AAP Delhi Chief revealed the BJP government is purchasing each bicycle for ₹7,000 even though the same bicycle is available in the market for ₹4,000. He said the issue was not merely about an inflated purchase price, but about public money being spent on poor-quality bicycles meant for government schoolgirls.
AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “We are distributing pamphlets among children and their parents to tell them that the same bicycle available in the market for ₹4,000 has been purchased by the Delhi government for nearly ₹7,000. There is ₹3,000 loot on every bicycle. Today is also Education Minister Ashish Sood’s birthday. We have been levelling allegations of corruption against his department for so long, but he has neither ordered an inquiry nor spoken to us. He did not invite us to his birthday either, so today we cut his cake among the children here and wished him a happy birthday.”
On the administration’s conduct, he asserted, “The administration has put pressure on teachers, because of which they are not allowing the children to come out of the school. The administration wants to ensure that the children do not learn the truth about the bicycle scam. Parents are asking the children to come outside, but the teachers have shut the doors. We have never seen or heard of such high-handedness before. It clearly means that the administration is afraid that the issue of the bicycle scam will reach the children and the public.”
Describing the campaign across Delhi, Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “Pamphlets about the bicycle scam were distributed outside girls’ schools in every ward. The pamphlets also carry photographs of the ₹7,000 bicycle purchased by the BJP government and the ₹4,000 bicycle available in the market, so that the girls can compare the two bicycles. The BJP government has purchased 1,30,000 bicycles and looted around ₹40 crore.”
Giving an example to explain the irregularity, he added, “It is like the government inviting a tender for an iPhone 17 Pro Max, but the contractor supplying an iPhone 14 at the price of an iPhone 17 Pro Max, while the government remains silent.”
Demanding action against the minister, the senior AAP leader said, “The government should immediately dismiss its minister Ashish Sood. The Delhi government had invited a tender for the expensive Hero Skylar model, but the contractor is supplying an inferior bicycle at the same price by putting a Skylar sticker on it.”
