The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday released documents to claim that the Karnataka government had invited 1,830 tenders worth Rs 6,000 crore on a single day, which the party said reeked with corruption.
“Tenders have been called for 1,830 short-term works worth Rs 6,000 crore in just 24 hours between 2.30 am on February 24 and 2.30 am on February 25. There are reports that various tenders worth Rs 15,000-20,000 crore have been called, but currently we have only got information about tenders worth Rs 6,000 crore. What was the need to suddenly call for these short-term tenders in just 24 hours? As the elections will be held shortly, the burden of these tenders will be on the incoming government,” AAP state president Prithvi Reddy told a news conference.
“Short-term tenders are called only in case of emergency. But now, even though there is no such situation, tenders have been called to loot people’s tax money for elections,” Reddy charged.
AAP leader Brijesh Kalappa, who is in charge of the party’s communication wing, said the last date of bid submission for all these tenders is before March 15. “From Bidar to Chamarajanagar, it includes tenders from almost all government departments. This may be the first time in the world that so many tenders have been called at once. Prima facie, it seems like the tenders have been tampered with by pressuring the officials,” he claimed.
According to a senior officer, tenders are being floated under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) that has a deadline. “We will continue float tenders till the election code of conduct comes because under JJM we still have about 6,000 -plus village-level tenders to be floated,” the officer said.