AAP Attacks BJP Over BMW Crash In Delhi, It Hits Back

The death of a finance ministry official after his motorcycle was rammed by a BMW in Delhi has also become a political flashpoint, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) trading charges over emergency care and the lack of funds being allotted for a scheme for the treatment of accident victims.

The accident claimed the life of Navjot Singh, 52, a deputy secretary in the finance ministry's department of economic affairs. Mr Singh and his wife, Sandeep Kaur, were returning from Bangla Sahib Gurdwara when their bike was hit by a speeding BMW X5 near Delhi Cantonment metro station around 1.30 pm on Sunday.

Police said the BMW was being driven by Gaganpreet Kaur and her husband Parikshit Makkar was also in the car. The couple, with the help of a pickup van driver, took Mr Singh and his wife to the Nulife Hospital in GTB Nagar, nearly 19 km from the accident site. This decision has triggered questions, especially since the hospital is co-owned by Gaganpreet Kaur's family.

AAP Questions Government Response

At a press conference, Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj attacked the BJP-led government in the capital and alleged that the tragedy was compounded by the scrapping of the Farishtey Scheme, launched in 2018-19.

"What is deeply saddening is that many people stopped after the accident occurred but only made videos. No one attempted to take the injured couple to a hospital," he said.

"Why were the victims taken far away to a small private hospital with limited facilities, when several hospitals were nearby? Why did no PCR or CATS (Centralised Accident and Trauma Services) ambulance reach a prime location like Delhi Cantt-Dhaula Kuan?"

"Under Farishtey, accident victims in Delhi could be admitted to the nearest private hospital and the government would bear treatment costs of up to Rs 50 lakh. But after the BJP formed the government, they allocated nothing for the scheme in the 2025-26 Budget, effectively shutting it down. Today, people hesitate to take accident victims to private hospitals because of deposit demands," he added.

BJP Hits Back

The Delhi BJP dismissed the allegations, calling them "irresponsible."

"It is really shocking to see AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj accusing the government most irresponsibly without checking facts in such a saddening case. Before linking this to the Farishtey Scheme, Mr Bharadwaj should have known that the couple was not taken to hospital by police or a passerby, but by the driver who caused the accident. Only investigation will reveal why she drove them to a hospital far away," Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said.

Mr Kapoor added that the scheme was not shut down by the BJP but had already failed.

"The Farishtey Scheme was not ended by the BJP government. It collapsed in 2023 itself because the Arvind Kejriwal government failed to clear hospital bills," he alleged.