Sanjay Singh Targets BJP Over Alleged Rs 650 Crore Delhi Health Department Scam

A political row over hospital purchases in Delhi has put the capital’s health department under renewed scrutiny, with the Aam Aadmi Party alleging a Rs 650 crore procurement scam and the Bharatiya Janata Party rejecting the charge as unsubstantiated. The dispute centres on purchases allegedly made through a centralised system, the appointment of officials, and claims that supplies were bought far above market rates.

The controversy has gained attention because it concerns public hospitals, where procurement decisions directly affect patients, budgets and frontline services. AAP has accused the BJP-led Delhi government of changing rules to control purchases. The BJP says the allegations are politically motivated and insists that the government itself ordered a vigilance probe after irregularities came to notice.

AAP alleges inflated hospital purchases in Delhi health department

Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj has alleged that the procurement process in government hospitals was altered before large-scale purchases were made. According to him, buying powers were taken away from individual hospitals and handed to the Central Procurement Agency, known as CPA. He has claimed this created the conditions for centralised control over supply orders.

Bharadwaj has also questioned the appointment of Dr Vatsala as Director General of Health Services. He alleged that rules were bypassed to place her in the post, allowing the purchase process to be controlled from the top. The allegation is significant because the DGHS office plays an important administrative role in Delhi’s public health system.

The AAP leader has claimed that hospitals received quantities far beyond their actual requirement. In one example cited by him, bedsheets allegedly worth about Rs 150 each were purchased for Rs 450. He further claimed that a 200-bed hospital was supplied nearly 20,000 bedsheets, far exceeding any reasonable operational need.

AAP has described the matter as the biggest alleged scam of the BJP government’s tenure in Delhi so far. Party MP Sanjay Singh has also attacked the BJP over the issue, arguing that the matter has not received the level of public debate that similar political controversies usually attract. The party has sought answers on who approved the purchases and how prices were cleared.

BJP says Rs 650 crore figure is baseless

The BJP has denied the allegation of a Rs 650 crore scam. Party chief whip and MLA Abhay Verma has said AAP must explain the basis of the figure. According to him, the number is “fabricated” and is being used to create confusion before the vigilance inquiry reaches a conclusion.

Verma has said the Rekha Gupta government acted on its own after irregularities in the purchase process came to light. He claimed the government did not wait for any formal complaint and ordered a vigilance investigation. He also said nearly 40 officials were transferred, while some officials were suspended and arrested as part of action taken so far.

The BJP’s defence rests on the argument that an internal clean-up is already underway. Verma has said the government follows a “zero tolerance” approach to corruption and that no guilty official will be protected, regardless of position. He has also pointed to changes in the GST department, where more than 100 officials have reportedly been transferred.

According to the BJP, new postings are being carried out through a transparent lottery system to reduce discretion and limit the scope for influence. The party’s larger message is that administrative action has already started, while AAP is presenting an ongoing inquiry as proof of a scam before the final findings are available.

Why the Delhi health procurement row matters

Public procurement in hospitals is a sensitive area because it involves recurring purchases of medicines, consumables, equipment, linen and other essential supplies. If prices are inflated, public money is wasted. If quantities are misjudged, hospitals may face storage problems, unused stock or shortages in other critical areas. That is why procurement systems usually require checks at multiple levels.

Centralised procurement can have both advantages and risks. It may help standardise prices, avoid duplication and improve bargaining power. But if oversight is weak, a centralised system can also concentrate decision-making in fewer hands. The current political dispute is therefore not only about one set of allegations, but also about whether Delhi’s hospital procurement controls were strong enough.

The unanswered question is whether the alleged irregularities were isolated administrative lapses, systemic failures, or evidence of deliberate wrongdoing. AAP says the scale and pricing patterns point to corruption. The BJP says the investigation must establish facts and that opposition leaders are making claims without proof. The final vigilance findings will be central to determining which claim stands.

So far, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Health Minister Pankaj Singh have not made detailed public statements on the allegations, according to the available account of the dispute. Their silence has added a political layer to the controversy, especially as AAP continues to demand accountability from the top leadership of the Delhi government.

For now, the case remains at the allegation-and-investigation stage. AAP is pressing the issue as a major financial scandal, while the BJP says corrective action began before the opposition campaign gathered pace. Until the vigilance report is made public, the key facts will remain contested, including the scale of irregularities, the responsibility of officials and whether public funds were misused.