New Delhi, May 27: The Aam Aadmi Party today demanded that the comptroller and auditor general audit the BJP-ruled states' expenditures on advertisements that commemorated the Narendra Modi government's third anniversary.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia told reporters that the states "splurging" on a central government celebration - he put the figure at Rs 2,000 crore - was a shocking development.

"Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and other BJP-ruled states have taken out large advertisements to celebrate the Modi government's three years in power," he said.

"Why are the state government's splurging the taxpayer's money on glorifying and celebrating a central government (milestone)? We have found out that these BJP governments spent Rs 2,000 crore.... This is criminal misuse of the taxpayer's money."

Sisodia added: "These are the same states that are shutting down government schools and hospitals and are running out of medicines. At such a time, they are splurging Rs 2,000 crore.... We demand that this money be recovered from the BJP immediately."

He said his party would take the mater up "with the committee set up to monitor the Aam Aadmi Party government's ad spends", and with the comptroller and auditor general.

Sisodia's party had approached Delhi High Court after lieutenant governor Anil Baijal ordered the recovery from the party of the Rs 97 crore the Delhi government had purportedly spent on certain advertisements.

A three-member committee, led by former chief election commissioner B.B. Tandon and formed by the Union information and broadcasting ministry on the apex court's orders, had found these ads to be violating the Supreme Court's rules on government advertisements.