NEW DELHI: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday that his government had ended the “raid raj” in the national capital and the people of Delhi had paid more taxes since the Aam Aadmi Party came to power, with revenue collection this year almost double that in 2015.
In 2015, the revenue to the government from taxes stood at “Rs 30,000 crore, which has jumped to nearly Rs 60,000 crore this year”, Kejriwal said while addressing a gathering of Resident Welfare Associations at Talkatora Stadium.
Kejriwal, a former Indian Revenue Service officer, said that the people of Delhi considered paying their share of taxes “auspicious”, because of which his government had been able to do many things for the welfare of the people.
“If people of the national capital had not paid their taxes, this would not have been possible, he said.
The faith of people in the government had grown over these years, Kejriwal claimed, adding that “when people see a government utilising public money on the public itself and that it is an honest government, then they support the dispensation wholeheartedly and pay taxes”.
“We have ended ‘raid raj’ and traders and businessmen are feeling relieved as they are not being harassed with raids,” the chief minister said.
Kejriwal also spoke of public support for the anti-dengue campaign ‘10 Hafte 10 Baje 10 Minute’, and asked people to be prepared for the implementation of the ‘Odd-even’ traffic scheme to bring down pollution when it reaches critical levels during winter.
“A wonder also happened four years ago,” said Kejriwal, smiling, and added, “that you all voted a one-year-old party to power with unimaginable number of seats of 67 out 70”.