NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party Saturday hit back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah over his jibe at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for the city government's spending on advertisements, saying it is a case of the "pot calling the kettle black".
The party also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on the issue of expenditure incurred on government advertisement, saying there are 850 hoardings of "Yogi ji and Modi ji" in Delhi while against the Delhi government's 108.
"The Delhi government spends only Rs 70 crores on advertisements in a year whereas the Yogi government spends Rs 2,000 crores in a year. 'Ulta chor kotwal ko dante?' (pot calling the kettle black?)," the AAP said in a statement, "Look at the hoardings of Modi ji in Delhi, you will come to know how much noise Modi ji makes even while doing the smallest work," the party added.
The AAP's reaction came after Shah, while addressing an event in the city, took a dig at Kejriwal over the media advertisements given by the Delhi government on its various programmes, saying that the people of the national capital have realised who actually carries out development works and who does only lip service.
"So far as spending money on advertisements is concerned, Amit Shah ji should take a tour of Delhi, only Yogi ji and Modi ji's advertisements are seen everywhere. Everyday advertisements of only Yogi ji and Modi ji appear in the newspapers in Delhi," the AAP hit back.
Inaugurating the 'Bharat Darshan' park, developed by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) with scrap materials, Shah also said that it is because of the BJP-ruled three municipal corporations in Delhi that the Modi government has been able to carry out welfare programmes in the capital.
He said there are two types of work cultures in the country, one which silently carries out various development works like providing free vaccines to people, bringing administrative reforms, introducing new education policy, urban development programmes, bringing 60 crore poor people under the ambit of welfare programmes like free housing, electricity, gas etc.
"And the other is karo ya na karo, advertisements do, TV interview do.
(Just give advertisements even if you don't do anything and give interviews to TV news channels).
People of Delhi have realised who actually carries out development works and who just does the lip service," the home said.
Praising Delhi's civic bodies for carrying out various welfare programmes, Shah also said, had the Kejriwal-led AAP government had paid Rs 13,000 crore outstanding to the three municipal corporations, the civic bodies would have done more work.
On Shah's remark, the AAP launched a counter attack, alleging that the Delhi municipal corporations under the BJP are the "most corrupt civic bodies in the world."
"All the money of these corporations goes into the pockets of BJP leaders," the AAP charged and hit back at the Union Home Minister saying, "Instead of supporting corruption, Amit Shah ji should run them (civic bodies) honestly. Then, there will be no shortage of money."