NEW DELHI: AAP Chief Spokesperson and MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj on Saturday accused the BJP of not paying for its hoardings to its own Delhi Municipal Corporations.
An AAP MLA had asked in the Vidhan Sabha whether the BJP pays the municipal corporation for all the advertisements it has put up in Delhi.
“The municipal commissioner, however, replied saying he has no information on it. If at all the BJP has paid the corporation for all its hoardings, then it must clarify what amount it has been charged,” said Bhardwaj.
He alleged, “Today, the municipal corporations are being driven into doom because the BJP puts up hoardings for free and prevents the corporations from earning from them. One hoarding is supposed to generate Rs 1 lakh in revenue per month, but the BJP is robbing the corporations of Rs 2,680 crores every year.”
During the Vidhan Sabha session’s question hour, one of the MLAs asked how much does a certain political party spend to put up advertisements on unauthorised sites, toilets and street furniture. Replying to the query, commissioners of all the three municipal corporations said that they had no information about it.
“Taking the example of PWD roads, we can do a simple calculation of the lost revenue. The PWD has 1,100 km of roads under its purview. If we take both sides of the road it becomes 2,200 km. Even if five hoardings are placed in 1 km, and one hoarding generates Rs 1 lakh per month, then the municipal corporations should earn about 2,680 crores from the hoardings. If the corporation is not getting revenue out of it, then it is clear that the BJP is looting the public,” said Bhardwaj.