The procurement of textbooks for Delhi government school students is now the centre of a political row, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleging that books were printed on substandard paper and did not meet tender specifications, and the Delhi government rejecting allegations of irregularities.

On Saturday, Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood rejected the AAP’s allegations, and argued that the current government had procured school textbooks at rates lower than those under the previous AAP government.

AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj had on Friday alleged that the Class 8 Hindi textbook ‘Malhar,’ printed through the Delhi government’s tender process, had relatively inferior-quality paper and small print size compared to the edition available in the market.

He claimed that while the tender specifications required A4-sized books printed on 80 GSM (grams per square metre) paper, the government-supplied copies used 60 GSM paper and were of poorer quality.

“Class 8 students are being given a book with…