Delhi BJP asks Lovely to clarify if he had links with Hardeep Singh

NEW DELHI: As investigations into the Ponty Chadha case gained momentum, Delhi unit of BJP today asked Delhi Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely to clarify whether he had any relationship with Hardeep Singh, the slain brother of the controversial liquor baron.

Delhi BJP president Vijender Gupta, referring to the government's ambitious cluster bus scheme, also demanded an inquiry into the contract of cluster bus service awarded to Hardeep Singh, alleging wrondoing.

"There should be an inquiry into the contract of cluster bus service awarded to Hardeep Singh," Gupta said.

Charging that corruption by Delhi government was one of the reasons for failure of cluster bus service, Gupta said although 150 low-floor buses were to be operated in South Delhi under the scheme, only 16 buses are now plying till date.

"It is said that Hardeep Singh Chadha was the owner of this cluster bus service. He had secured the contract of cluster service with the help of his relations with Delhi government...It is said that he had relations with former Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely," the Delhi BJP president alleged in a release.

When asked, Lovely strongly rejected the allegations and termed them as "juvenile".

"The allegations are very juvenile. The contract for cluster bus service was given in a transparent tender process. No minister can intervene in the tender process," Lovely said.

Ponty and Hardeep, who were locked in a property dispute, were killed when both sides opened fire at each other in a south Delhi farmhouse on November 17.