Auto-rickshaw permit scam: BJP protests, demands Arvind Kejriwal's resignation

The Bharatiya Janata Party claims Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is involved in the alleged auto-rickshaw permit scam.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists on Monday staged a protest outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence here, demanding his resignation over the alleged auto-rickshaw permit scam.

The demonstrators led by BJP's Delhi unit chief Satish Upadhyay also called for the resignation of Transport Minister Gopal Rai.

Addressing the demonstrators, Upadhyay said that Delhi's auto-rickshaw drivers, who gave full respect and support to Kejriwal, today feel cheated.

"It hurts to know that Kejriwal government robbed the permits from the actual auto drivers and gave them to the auto mafia," he charged.

Upadhyay said people have lost faith in this Government and BJP demands the resignation of Kejriwal and Rai. The protestors raised slogans like "Kejriwal Sharm Karo, Auto Walo Ne Maan Diya, Samman Diya, Tumne Unko Bhi Dhokha Diya."

The Delhi government had on Saturday had scrapped more than 900 auto-rickshaw permits in Delhi after alleged irregularities in their allotment. It had also suspended three transport department officials over alleged corruption in issuing fresh Letters of Intents (LOIs) for three-wheelers.

"We have requested LG Najeeb Jung to seek a report from the transport department on the issue and the investigation should be handed over to the Anti-Corruption Branch," Upadhyay said.

The Transport Minister had made a preliminary enquiry in which two kinds of irregularities were revealed -- the LOIs were issued on pick-and-choose basis despite orders of the minister to follow chronological order and the LOIs were being handed over to certain intermediaries/unauthorised people instead of beneficiaries/applicants.

All 932 LOIs issued by the transport department till date have been scrapped, and the exercise of issuing LOIs has been put on hold.

(With PTI inputs)