New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) The BJP on Tuesday said that the Enforcement Directorate's raids against AAP Delhi unit chief and former health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj have exposed the "medical scam" under the previous Arvind Kejriwal government.

After the ED raid, now the "panicked" AAP leaders are saying Bharadwaj was not a minister when the decision was made to build the hospitals, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said and added, "While that may be true, the real question is can the AAP deny the fact that Bharadwaj was a minister during the actual construction of the hospitals." The AAP government in Delhi was involved in the "scam" in the construction of hospitals and the purchase of medicines and equipment, the BJP leader said in a video statement. An investigation into the "scam" in the purchase of medicines is already being conducted by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), he said The Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out searches at the premises of Bharadwaj and some private contractors as part of a money laundering probe linked to an alleged scam in health infrastructure projects during the previous AAP government in Delhi, official sources said.

"We have said it earlier also that the previous AAP government led by Arvind Kejriwal looted Delhi through scams. Now the party is trying to fool people in other states," Sachdeva said.

The ED raids against Bharadwaj have exposed the "medical scam" under the previous AAP government, he said.

The AAP on Tuesday said raids against Bharadwaj were an attempt to divert attention from questions being raised about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's degree and that the case against the party leader was "false" as he was not a minister when decisions on constructing hospitals were taken.

Sachdeva said that it does not matter who was the minister at the time of the "scam" because the ED is probing irregularities in the construction of the hospitals, not the decision to do so.

“Can Saurabh Bharadwaj, who calls the ED investigation fake, take an oath and say that as Health Minister, he never approved any emergency or additional tender purchases related to construction work," the Delhi BJP president challenged the AAP.

Now, the people of Delhi want to know from Arvind Kejriwal why he failed to complete even a single new permanent hospital, let alone the seven temporary hospitals announced during COVID-19, he said.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders are experts in "spreading confusion to cover up AAP government’s corruption", he charged.

He accused the previous AAP government of failing to complete the construction of even one hospital during its tenure because of "half-baked plans" and inadequate release of funds.

The AAP government merely provided budgets for laying bricks and announced the construction of hospitals, but did not allocate any funds for essentials like electricity, water infrastructure, operation theatres, wards and other medical infrastructure, he claimed. PTI VIT RT RT

Money laundering probe into health infrastructure alleges procurement irregularities and prompts partisan accusations over hospital construction. Searches at a former health minister's and contractors' premises were part of a money laundering investigation linked to alleged procurement and construction-stage irregularities in health infrastructure projects, focusing on transactional and financial aspects of hospital construction and purchases rather than initial decisions to build hospitals; the raids prompted opposing political claims about culpability and the motive for the probe.