CM Gupta rebranded AAP’s Mohalla Bus project for credit: Bharadwaj

The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday accused the BJP government of repackaging the Atishi-led dispensation’s electric ‘Mohalla Buses’ project, inaugurated last October, as Delhi Electric Vehicle Initiative (DEVI) to take “undue credit”.

No immediate response was available from the BJP over the opposition party’s allegations.

A day after Chief Minister Rekha Gupta inaugurated 400 new electric buses under the DEVI project to provide connectivity to areas inaccessible by standard 12-metre buses, AAP’s Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj termed it a “blatant attempt to mislead the public”.

“The BJP is re-inaugurating the same Mohalla buses that were flagged off by the AAP government last year. This is a blatant attempt to mislead the public and take credit for a scheme that was already operational,” he claimed

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He said the electric ‘Mohalla Buses’ project was launched in October 2024 with a contract awarded to the Central government entity CESL to maintain transparency and prevent any corruption allegations.

However, the buses did not meet the 50 per cent ‘Make in India’ compliance required under the tender norms at the time and hence were not certified, Bharadwaj said.

“If the buses were non-compliant in October, how did they suddenly become compliant in April 2025? Or did the BJP government simply ignore the tender rules and put the buses on the roads for the sake of optics?” he asked.

Bharadwaj demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter, calling it a potential scam involving thousands of crores. “We need to investigate whether this irregularity occurred at the level of officials or under political direction.”

After flagging off the 400 battery-operated buses, Delhi CM Gupta said that 2,080 more electric buses will be added to the fleet by the end of this year.

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The DEVI buses are equipped with CCTV cameras, live tracking, panic buttons, and motorised ramps for passengers with disability. These vehicles also feature retractable steps at a low height of 40 cm to ease boarding and alighting.