Kejriwal planned to purchase PPE kits without tender in 2020: Assam CM

Mr. Sarma on Saturday had threatened to file a criminal defamation case against Mr. Sisodia for alleging corruption in Assam government

A day after threatening to file a criminal defamation case against the Delhi deputy CM over allegations of corruption in procurement of PPE kits, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Sunday claimed that his counterpart in the national capital offered to buy the medical equipment without floating any tender back in 2020.

Mr. Sarma tagged an old tweet by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in which he urged BJP MP Gautam Gambhir to arrange for PPE kits from anywhere "immediately", after the former India cricketer had pledged a total of ₹1 crore from his MP LAD fund for procurement of medical equipment.

"Delhi CM suo moto offered to buy PPE kits from anywhere without tender. Why?" Mr. Sarma tweeted.

"Does his Deputy CM think the CM is corrupt as he asked someone to arrange PPE kits from somewhere immediately, and said that Delhi Govt will buy them? No reference to any tender etc… AAP leaders chose to contradict each other rather than fighting a crisis. People of Delhi are paying the price for this,” he added.

Also read | Assam Govt denies involvement of CM’s family in supply of PPE kits

Mr. Sarma also sought to defend his wife Riniki Bhuyan Sarma, who has been facing accusations amid an alleged PPE kit scam, asserting that her action can be termed as "humanity" as she had tried to help the state by "contributing" in the fight against COVID-19 in 2020.

"The company in question wrote to Assam’s NHM stating that supply of around 1,500 PPE kits for Covid warriors must be treated as CSR contribution and hence, not a single rupee must be paid by Govt," he said, referring to his wife’s company. Mr. Sarma uploaded a letter purportedly written by a person named Utpal Baruah, of JCB Industries, owned by the CM’s wife, to the Mission Director of National Health Mission (NHM), Assam, in March 2020.