Manish Sisodia: Assam CM awarded contracts for PPE kits to his wife

As India tackled the Covid outbreak in 2020, then-Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma allegedly offered contracts to his wife’s and son’s business partners to supply PPE kits over market rates, according to media reports, according to Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia.

During a news conference, he alleged that although the Assam government purchased PPE kits from other companies for Rs 600 a piece, Sarma placed urgent supply orders for Rs 990 a piece with the enterprises of his wife and son’s business partners “taking advantage of the COVID-19 emergency.”

According to him, Sarma’s wife’s company does not even deal in medical equipment.

“While the contract provided to Sarma’s wife’s firm was revoked since the company could not produce PPE kits,” Sisodia said, citing a media source. “Another supply order was given to the firm belonging to his son’s business partners at a rate of Rs 1,680 per kit,” Sisodia said.

He said the story was co-written by two websites and released two days ago.

The AAP politician questioned why members of the Bharatiya Janata Party remained silent when a chief minister of a state ruled by the saffron party was accused of corruption.

“They talk about corruption and make unfounded accusations on opposing party members. “I’d want to examine their notion of corruption… I’d like to question them if they regard this (Assam case) to be corruption or not,” Sisodia continued.

Satyendar Jain was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on “false” corruption charges, according to him, and the Centre told the court on Friday that he is “not an accused.”

After hours of questioning, the ED detained Jain on May 30 in a money laundering investigation.

The AAP leader and his wife allegedly accumulated disproportionate wealth of Rs 1.47 crore between February 2015 and May 2017, more than double their recognized sources of income, according to the agency.