NEW DELHI | The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday exposed yet another massive scam under the BJP government in Delhi, pointing out that rice meant for the city’s poor was diverted into a ₹22,000 crore racket. AAP Delhi President and former Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that on the recommendation of Food Supply Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa’s department, the Food Corporation of India agreed to supply 31,000 metric tonnes of heavily subsidised rice every week to a corporation from Assam for distribution among Delhi’s poor. Instead, the corporation sold the rice to a private company in Haryana at nearly double the price, generating ₹70 to ₹71 crore in commission every week. At this rate, rice worth ₹22,000 crore would have been sold over three years, generating ₹11,000 crore in commission.
The AAP Delhi Unit Chief stated that the racket was caught by the Central Government’s Vigilance Department, yet the entire Delhi Government has maintained silence. The AAP demanded that Chief Minister Rekha Gupta immediately seek the resignation of Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa and fix accountability for the ₹22,000 crore rice scam.
Addressing a press conference at the AAP headquarters on Saturday, senior AAP leader and Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “The Rekha Gupta government is carrying out such massive corruption that the people would be stunned. This time, a rice scam had been planned, with the plan being prepared at the beginning of this year itself. The plan was that for the coming three years, 31,000 metric tonnes of rice every week meant for the poor people of Delhi would be taken from the warehouses of the Food Corporation of India. But instead of reaching the poor, that rice would be sold to a private company in Haryana at double the price. Under this plan, 31,000 metric tonnes of rice was to be looted every week.”
Explaining the pricing and commission involved, the former Delhi Minister said, “This rice was to be received from the Central Government at approximately ₹23.20 per kilogram. The Vigilance Department of the Central Government says that this ₹23 rice was being sold in the open market to a private vendor at ₹46 per kilogram. This means that a commission of approximately ₹43 was being taken on every kilogram of rice. That means 31,000 metric tonnes of rice was being sold every week for ₹143 crore and a commission of ₹70 to ₹71 crore was being taken every week. According to the plan, if this commission continued for three years, rice worth a total of ₹22,000 crore would have been sold to the private company and ₹11,000 crore in commission would have been taken.”
Pointing to the scale of the proposed diversion, he pointed out, “The budget of the Delhi Government is ₹70,000 crore. Therefore, people would think that even if this government commits any corruption, it would be of ₹1,000 crore or ₹2,000 crore. But they have such big ideas for looting and fraud that they are not only penetrating the Delhi Government’s budget, but even the budget of the Central Government. Otherwise, it would not have been possible for a department of the Delhi Government to plan a ₹22,000 crore loot.”
Recounting how the arrangement began, the AAP Delhi Unit Chief said, “A corporation from Assam, that is, from North East India, wrote a letter on 7th January 2026 to Delhi Government Food Supply Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa. The letter said that the Central Government has a scheme under which it provides rice to the states at very cheap prices. This rice is meant for poor people, migrant workers, daily-wage workers and homeless people who do not have ration cards. That corporation from Assam wrote that it would take this cheap rice and distribute it among the poor in Delhi. Manjinder Singh Sirsa kept this letter pending for four months and then, on 8th April 2026, instead of sending it to the Secretary or Food Commissioner of his department, he sent it to an officer below them, the Special Commissioner. He wrote on the letter that it should be considered positively as per the rules.”
Elaborating on the action taken by the department after the Minister’s direction, Saurabh Bharadwaj pointed out, “Following Manjinder Singh Sirsa’s direction, Additional Commissioner of the Food and Civil Supplies Department Arun Kumar Jha emailed the Food Corporation of India on the same day, that is, 8th April 2026. He said that this was very important and that 31,000 metric tonnes of rice should be given to this corporation. After this, Arun Kumar Jha repeatedly wrote letters to the Food Corporation of India asking it to provide the rice.”
“The letter forwarded by Manjinder Singh Sirsa clearly stated that under this arrangement, approximately 31,000 metric tonnes of rice would be lifted every week. Its primary objective was to provide rice at cheap rates to the general public, daily-wage workers, migrant workers who had come from other states and people who did not come under the Public Distribution System scheme. That means this rice was entirely meant for the poor people of Delhi,” he added.
Describing how the diversion came to light, Saurabh Bharadwaj noted, “After a complaint was made to the Vigilance Department of the Central Government, this massive theft was caught. After the Central Government wrote to the Delhi Government, officer Arun Kumar Jha was suspended. His show-cause notice for suspension states that after sending a no-objection email to the Food Corporation of India on 8th April 2026, he again sent emails on 13th April, 16th April and 17th April. An officer of the rank of Additional Commissioner was repeatedly putting pressure on the Food Corporation of India to provide 31,000 metric tonnes of rice. But surprisingly, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Food Supply Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa did not hold any press conference regarding the distribution of 31,000 metric tonnes of rice every week to Delhi’s poor.”
Questioning the silence of the government, the former Delhi Minister affirmed, “If these people plant even a single tree in their mother’s name, they call all the media 10 days in advance and get photographs clicked. But despite distributing so much rice, no news was published and Manjinder Singh Sirsa did not share any photograph of himself distributing rice to the poor, even though whenever he spends even 25 paise, he shares several photographs.”
“This directly means that the entire government, from the bottom to the top, was sitting silently on this matter so that nobody would know about this weekly loot of rice meant for the poor. Only the Food Corporation of India, the officer who repeatedly wrote emails and that corporation from Assam knew about it,” he asserted.
Raising questions over the selection of the Assam corporation, Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “The question arises that if rice had to be distributed to the poor of Delhi, why was a corporation from Assam searched for this purpose? The Delhi Government has several corporations of its own, including the Delhi State Civil Supplies Corporation, which comes under the department of Food Supply Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa himself. Why was this work not carried out through the corporation of his own department?”
Holding the Chief Minister and Food Supply Minister accountable, the AAP Delhi Unit Chief said, “In this matter, direct and serious charges arise against the Chief Minister of Delhi and Food Supply Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa. It is completely wrong to suspend only officer Arun Kumar Jha and tear up his bill, so to speak. This is exactly like what happened when a ₹650 crore scam took place in the Health Department and three doctors were sent to jail. Here too, officers are being directly implicated and the Minister and Chief Minister are being protected. We demand from our Central Government, the LG and the Chief Minister that accountability must be fixed in this matter and only departmental officers should not be made scapegoats.”
Speaking at the press conference, Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha said, “Corruption in different ministries is continuously coming to light. First there was the medicine scam, then the bicycle scam and now the ration scam has come to light. When people are asked, they say that Manjinder Singh Sirsa is a Minister who has very good connections at the national and international level. His connection is clearly visible in the fact that ration will not be distributed through a Delhi corporation, but a corporation from Assam will take responsibility for it. This shows the kind of reach Manjinder Singh Sirsa has across the country.”
The AAP MLA further said, “At first sight itself, it is becoming clear how Manjinder Singh Sirsa is involved in this matter. This letter should have gone to the Secretary or Commissioner of the Civil Supplies Department. But if this letter is going to the Additional Commissioner, it directly means that the entire thing was planned. It was planned in advance, an officer was prepared for it and then this work was carried out together with him. The BJP’s Central Government makes big claims, but it appears that if someone is in the BJP, they have complete freedom to loot.”
Sanjeev Jha further said, “Despite a scam involving thousands of crores, no Central investigating agency such as the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) or ED (Enforcement Directorate) has come for an investigation so far. Where has their CBI gone? This proves that all the looters get the freedom to loot if they join the BJP. During the Delhi elections, these people came asking for votes and said that if there was a double engine government in Delhi, there would be more work. But in the last 18 months, it has been proved that Delhi has not got a double engine government, but a government of scamsters. There is no department or Minister left who is not involved in looting.”
He said, “We are not making any political allegation, but the entire investigation is being conducted by the Central Government. We are speaking on the basis of those investigation reports and facts. We expect Chief Minister Rekha Gupta to either seek Manjinder Singh Sirsa’s resignation, and if the Minister’s resignation is not taken, it will clearly mean that Rekha Gupta and her entire Cabinet are involved in this. The Supreme Court had said that ration should be given to migrant workers in Delhi, but these people ate up their ration. There were allegations of gullak theft against Manjinder Singh Sirsa earlier and an FIR was also registered in that matter.
“From starting with gullak theft, the matter has now reached the ration of the poor. There may have been a small amount in the gullak, but now the amount has reached thousands of crores. The Central Government should now get this investigated by the ED and CBI and should seek the resignation of the Minister and the Chief Minister,” said Sanjeev Jha.
Speaking on the matter, Kondli MLA Kuldeep Kumar said, “This government is now not even sparing the food of the poor. A poor person, a labourer or a migrant worker who does not have a ration card or even his documents lives only on the hope that if he gets ration, he will be able to eat food in the morning and evening. But Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa did not even spare that poor person’s food. They have carried out a loot even in the ration of the poor. A scam involving 25 percent of the total budget of the Delhi Government has been committed. Such a massive scam of ₹22,000 crore has been committed in Delhi.”
The AAP MLA said, “This government is a government of scamsters. Ever since this government came, its intentions became clear, because it is said that the feet of the child can be seen in the cradle itself. When the government was formed, we had said that the BJP government had come to Delhi after 27 years and when they came 27 years ago, they had looted Delhi then too. They know that they will return to power in Delhi only after 47 years now, so within five years, to complete the quota of the next 47 years, every one of their Ministers is engaged in the system of looting. From rice to bicycles and medicines, they have spared nothing.”
Kuldeep Kumar said, “We demand from the government that it immediately seek the resignation of Manjinder Singh Sirsa, against whom there were earlier allegations of gullak theft and now there are allegations of stealing the rice meant for the poor. Such a person has no right to remain in the Cabinet. If the government does not seek the resignation of such a Minister, it will be understood that the entire government is involved in this loot. Now that the loot has been caught, the government is trying to save itself. The Minister’s resignation should take place immediately, because the people of Delhi are watching how this government is working to loot them.”
How The Entire Scam Was Carried Out
- A corporation from Assam wrote a letter on 7th January 2026 to Delhi Government Food Supply Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa expressing its desire to distribute rice among the poor in Delhi.
- After four months of consideration, Manjinder Singh Sirsa sent the letter on 8th April 2026 to the Special Commissioner of his department and asked that it be considered positively.
- Additional Commissioner of the Food and Civil Supplies Department Arun Kumar Jha emailed the Food Corporation of India on the same day, 8th April 2026.
- Arun Kumar Jha described the matter as urgent and requested that 31,000 metric tonnes of rice be given every week to the corporation from Assam.
- After sending a no-objection email to the Food Corporation of India on 8th April 2026, Arun Kumar Jha also sent emails on 13th April, 16th April and 17th April.
- No press conference was held by the Delhi Government regarding such a massive scheme for the poor. That means it was deliberately kept hidden.
