AAP dares Vardhan to show proof of claim

Did CVC really oppose AIIMS appointment, asks party

The Aam Aadmi Party has once again challenged Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to prove his claims made over the last two days that the Central Vigilance Commission had opposed the appointment of whistleblower officer Sanjeev Chaturvedi as the Chief Vigilance Officer of AIIMS. 

The party questioned Harsh Vardhan if the predecessor and successor of Chaturvedi to the post of CVO were appointed after taking the CVC’s approval.

The AAP said Harsh Vardhan has no explanation on which provision of the CVC manual was violated in the appointment of Chaturvedi as AIIMS CVO. The party said in a statement that the Health Minister is changing his stand everyday and making false statements in a desperate bid to wriggle out of his unjustified and untenable decision to compromise with corruption by shunting out an honest officer.

The AAP alleged that Harsh Vardhan was acting at the instructions of the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Health Minister tweeted on August 22 that Chaturvedi had been twice rejected by the CVC, and his continuation as CVO of AIIMS was “irregular and indefensible”, the AAP said.   

“The minister on Saturday changed his stand from rejection to opposition by the CVC in 2012 and 2013,” it said. “The AAP dares the Health Minister to put in public domain any document that supports his claim,” the party said.

The AAP alleged that Harsh Vardhan reopened a case that the Health Ministry had settled less than three months ago.