Rajnath accuses AAP govt of starving MCDs of funds

Elections to all three municipal corporations in the national capital will be held on April 23 and the counting will take place on April 26.

New Delhi, Apr 20: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday hit out at the Kejriwal government, accusing it of "hampering" the functioning of MCDs, starving them by not providing their due funds amounting to Rs 9,000 crore.

The senior BJP leader, campaigning for party candidates in northwest Delhi's Kirari area, said that the Aam Aadmi Party does not have the "moral right" to level allegations against the three municipal corporations.

Singh said the Congress and the AAP, which have ruled Delhi for 15 years and two-and-a-half years respectively, have "muddied Delhi and people know the lotus blooms only in mud".

"The AAP and the Congress say that the BJP has ruled municipal corporations for 10 years and did not work. How would the BJP-ruled MCD work when the AAP government did not provide funds to the civic bodies. Our MCD leaders repeatedly requested the government to release funds, but Kejriwal government did not give it," the senior BJP leader said.

He said that the Finance Commission had recommended Rs 9,000 crore for the MCD, but the AAP government only released Rs 2,800 crore, adding that "in this situation, how would MCD work? They (AAP) do not have moral right to point fingers at us."

Seeking to corner the Aam Aadmi Party over its poll promises in the run up to the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, Singh said, "The BJP does not do politics by misleading people. Unlike the Congress and the AAP, there is no difference between deeds and words of the BJP."

"Both parties have lost people's faith, but the BJP will definitely win people's faith this time," he said.

He said that the AAP had promised to provide free Wi-Fi, but there is nothing on this so far.

"They had also promised to provide potable water to every household in Delhi. They used to say that they would construct 1,000 mohalla clinics, but only 100 such clinics have been set up so far," he said.

"They (the AAP and the Congress) are doing politics over garbage, but we assure that once the BJP is voted to power in the MCD, we will ensure door-to-door collection of garbage through which we will generate electricity in Delhi," Singh said.

Elections to all three municipal corporations will be held on April 23 and the counting will take place on April 26. He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Centre has constructed toilets in many villages under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

"We will also ensure the same in Delhi so that people in backward areas will not defecate in the open. The AAP also criticised demonetisation move of the Centre, but people across the country welcomed this," Singh said.

Referring to the BJP regime under former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he said that the party-led government had constructed wide roads across the country.

"Our soldiers did surgical strikes on militant launch pads along the LoC in Pakistan. Indian has emerged as a strong country in the entire world under the leadership of Prime Minister Narenda Modi," he said.

PTI