NEW DELHI: Instead of making Delhi a world class city as he promised, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has turned it into a "smog city", the BJP claimed Tuesday, attacking the AAP government over air pollution in the national capital.
"If Kejriwal is unable to perform, he should immediately resign," Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta told a joint press conference with Leader of Opposition in Vidhan Sabha Ramvir Bidhuri.
Gupta said that rising pollution level in Delhi is "the biggest failure" of the Kejriwal government.
"Instead of making Delhi a world class city as he claimed, Kejriwal has made it a smog city."
The people of Delhi feel quite "helpless" now as pollution level is alarming and many are falling ill but Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party are busy in political tourism, Gupta blamed.
AAP leaders including Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia have been visiting poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand in recent months, even as the city grapples with hazardous levels of air pollution post Diwali.
"The pollution level is so bad in the national capital that even the Supreme Court took it up seriously and admonished the Kejriwal government in no uncertain terms," Gupta said.
"Kejriwal is himself busy on political tourism in Uttarakhand, Goa and Punjab while leaving Delhiites to breathe in poisonous air," he said.
The AAP blames crop stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana for problem in Delhi but the air quality index there is better compared to Delhi, Gupta claimed.
"About two days back, Karnal and Panipat in Haryana had AQI of 157 and 136 respectively while in Ludhiana and Patiala in Punjab it was 148 and 163 respectively whereas in Delhi it was 720. This makes it clear Haryana and Punjab are just lame excuses," he said.
Bidhuri said the BJP has insisted stubble-burning is not the main reason for pollution.
"There are three other reasons -- poor public transport system, dust particles on roads and emission from industrial units. They are major contributors to air pollution in Delhi," he claimed.