Delhi building collapse: AAP alleges rampant corruption; BJP MP blames builder greed

New Delhi The building collapse in old Delhi’s Chawri Bazar triggered a political war of words, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of “rampant extortion” and “corruption”. “The Rekha Gupta government and the MCD [Municipal Corporation of Delhi] have conducted multiple safety audits of buildings across Delhi, yet buildings continue to collapse. Why?

Safety audits have been ordered repeatedly, but instead of taking concrete action, multiple departments have collected bribes. This is why buildings collapse every month,” AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj wrote on X. The party demanded that the government order a high-level inquiry into the incident and take strict action against the officials responsible.

Meanwhile, officials said that CM Rekha Gupta, along with East Delhi MP and State BJP president Harsh Malhotra, reached the spot to take stock soon after receiving news about the collapse. Speaking to reporters, Mr. Malhotra said, “At first glance, this appears to be a case of extreme greed.