(MENAFN- IANS) New Delhi, Jan 19 (IANS) Raising questions of impropriety, Union Minister of State for Railways Ravneet Singh Bittu on Sunday hit out at former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia for taking Rs 1.4 crore education loan for his son from two Punjab MPs.
Hinting at a possible 'quid pro quo' or cash-for-Rajya Sabha seat scam, the MoS from Punjab said Romesh Mittal, who gave the education loan for Sisodia's son, is the brother of AAP MP Ashok Mittal, who owns a private university.
Similarly, Guneet Arora, a relative of another AAP Rajya Sabha MP, gave a personal loan to Sisodia.
They supported wealthy education tycoons from Punjab to enter the Rajya Sabha and then took loans from them, said Bittu.
Following incidents like the liquor scam and the irregularities during Covid period, Sisodia's son was sent to study in Canada using such financial arrangements, he said.
Leaders in the BJP are raising questions on the terms on which wife of Sisodia, an accused in the excise policy case out on bail, has taken personal loans of Rs 1.54 crore, considering that he has declared his family's total assets to be worth only Rs 57 lakh.
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva earlier said: "Manish Sisodia's election affidavit speaks volumes, indicating that like ordinary people, Sisodia makes fixed deposits in banks, but when he needs a loan he has friends who lend him millions of rupees, even on long-term basis,” he said, questioning the hidden terms under which the Rs 1.54 crore loans were given to the wife of former minister who drafted the controversial liquor policy.
Sisodia's affidavit mentions that his wife's outstanding loans for funding their son's education include Rs 86 lakh from Romesh Chander Mittal, Rs 58 lakh from Guneet Arora and Rs 10 lakh from Deepali.
The affidavit identifies his son Meer Sisodia as a dependent and gives details of Scotiabank, 392 Bay Street, Toronto, where the AAP leader has opened three separate accounts to park funds for his son's education.
The affidavit also shows foreign exchange assets of about Canadian $3,980 (Rs 2.4 lakh) in the foreign bank.
Earlier, Bittu exposed the false claims made by Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia-led government regarding Delhi's education system and highlighted the security lapses in Punjab under the AAP government, which led to the murder of Punjab singer Sidhu Moose Wala.
Union Minister Bittu criticised Kejriwal and Sisodia's false promotion of their education policies across electoral states, declaring them as "super flop" schemes.
He pointed out that in their 12 years of governance, the AAP-led Delhi government has neither established any new colleges nor schools.
"The existing universities under the Delhi government are of such poor quality that Sisodia himself does not consider them suitable for his own children and has chosen to send his son to study abroad in Canada," said Bittu.
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