NEW DELHI: After the Ministry of External Affairs denied to give political clearance to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to attend the C40 Climate Summit in Denmark, the Aam Aadmi Party stated that it plans to raise the issue in the Assembly elections next year.
Terming it as an “insult” to the people of Delhi, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that BJP government at the Centre has in the past took similar decisions when it came to AAP ministers taking part in international summits.
Kejriwal was supposed to lead an eight-member team to Denmark from October 9 to October 12 at C40 World Mayors Summit.
Calling it an attempt by the Centre to deny a global platform to Kejriwal to talk about the achievements of his government, Singh said, “Why is the BJP scared of the work done by the Kejriwal government? In the last few years, the Delhi government has done a remarkable job by improving the quality of education and health. We will take up this issue in the elections.”
The AAP leaders also pointed out that the Urban Development Minister of West Bengal Firhad Hakim was given clearance from the MEA for same event.
Earlier during the day, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar had said that the event was for mayor level participants, hence Bengal minister Hakim was granted the permission.
Hitting back at the AAP, senior BJP leader from Delhi Vijay Goel said, “The summit is being unnecessarily politicised and attempts are being made to showcase wrong facts. As is obvious from the name of the event, it is for mayors and deputy mayors not for chief ministers. In this case, Delhi government should rather have requested the mayors of the MCDs”.