NEW DELHI, Aug 2026 : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday held a fierce demonstration outside the Delhi Secretariat over a multi-crore scam in the procurement of bicycles distributed to schoolgirls. Led by senior AAP leader and Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj, a large number of party leaders and karyakartas raised slogans against the Rekha Gupta government, demanding immediate action over the irregularities in the bicycle procurement.
The AAP Delhi Chief demanded that the government immediately register a First Information Report (FIR) in the bicycle scam and dismiss Minister Ashish Sood. He said AAP leaders had gone to the Secretariat to meet Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, but she refused to meet them. The delegation will now meet the Lieutenant Governor (LG) on Tuesday and seek action in the bicycle procurement case as well as other scams.
During this, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the ₹40 crore corruption in the bicycles distributed to young schoolgirls is out in the open. “A bicycle available in the market for ₹4,000 was bought by us for ₹4,000, and we paid ₹200 in tax on it. But when the government purchased 1.3 lakh bicycles, it bought each bicycle for ₹7,000. This means that the government and the contractor together pocketed a commission of around ₹40 crore on the bicycles. This blatant loot is right in front of everyone. We sent a complaint to the ACB (Anti-Corruption Bureau), but the ACB has not registered an FIR, and Rekha Gupta is sitting completely silent on this matter.”
He continued, “The clear meaning of this is that Rekha Gupta is a weak and ineffective Chief Minister, whose name was picked from a slip. She has no public base in Delhi, which is why she cannot even ask her minister who is behind this corruption. That is why the Chief Minister has not even ordered an inquiry into it. Another reason could be that big people are involved in this loot and the commission has reached the pockets of influential people, which is why the Chief Minister is keeping quiet. For this, Education Minister Ashish Sood will have to be dismissed, and we will ensure that Ashish Sood resigns.”
Meanwhile, Burari MLA Sanjeev Jha said, “A ₹40 crore scam has been carried out in the bicycles for children in the department of BJP minister Ashish Sood. We presented all the evidence regarding this in the Delhi Assembly. We wrote letters to the Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Minister of Delhi, but no action is being taken on this. Why are these looters being protected? We filed a complaint with the ACB, but no action was taken on it. This means that if someone is in the BJP, they have complete freedom to loot.”
Sanjeev Jha added, “We had gone to meet the LG, and he has given us an appointment for September 1. If the BJP and the Lieutenant Governor talk about honesty, then they will have to remove the corrupt people. You cannot demonstrate honesty while joining hands with corrupt people. If Chief Minister Rekha Gupta does not seek the resignation of her minister, it will prove that she too is running the government in collusion with corrupt people. We hope that when we meet the LG on Tuesday, he will take strict action in the entire matter.”
Meanwhile, Kondli MLA Kuldeep Kumar said, “Thousands of people have gathered here today to demand the resignation of Delhi government minister Ashish Sood, who is part of a government involved in scams. We have gathered outside the Secretariat because BJP minister Ashish Sood sits here, and it is his department that has carried out a scam in the bicycles meant for girls, buying bicycles available for ₹4,000 for ₹7,000. This is such a corrupt government that there are leakages in every department, while ministers responsible for such actions continue to sit in the government.”
Kuldeep Kumar asked BJP minister Ashish Sood, “Why did you buy the bicycle for ₹7,000 when I bought the same bicycle for ₹4,200? If you had not carried out this scam, even more girls studying in Classes 7, 8, 10 and 11 in Delhi could have received bicycles. The minister bought that bicycle at double the price and is still sitting in his chair. The minister should resign with immediate effect.”
He said, “If the resignation does not come at the earliest, there will be an even bigger agitation in Delhi, and it will be understood that Rekha Gupta is also involved in this scam because she is protecting a minister whose department has carried out a scam involving bicycles meant for girls. Our agitation will continue until Ashish Sood resigns.”
