NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the Arvind Kejriwal-led party wanted Delhi to be ‘AAP-Nirbhar’ while the BJP wanted the national capital to be ‘Atmanirbhar’, and asked the people to choose between the two in the MCD elections.
At the launch of a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant in Tehkhand, Shah also accused the Kejriwal government of ‘step-motherly’ treatment to the erstwhile three civic bodies and said it owed Rs 40,000 crores to the municipal corporations.
Shah said that in the next MCD elections, the people of Delhi will have to decide whether they want to be “AAP-Nirbhar or Atmanirbhar”. Addressing the gathering, Shah further said that the people of Delhi need to decide if they liked the politics of ‘Vigyapan’ (advertisement) or the politics of ‘Vikas’ (development). People should also decide if they liked ‘Prachaar’ (campaign) politics or ‘Parivartan’ (change) politics.
The Home Minister said, “Some people say that this plant is being inaugurated because of the upcoming elections. I want to point out that this is not a foundation-stone laying ceremony. It is the inauguration of the plant, which has been completed.”
Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena, was also present as a special guest. Delhi BJP president, Aadesh Gupta, MP Ramesh Bidhuri and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, were also present at the inauguration ceremony.
Reacting to the Shah’s statement, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “How much money did the central government give to MCD in 15 years? Was there a BJP government in both places? Double engine?”
He added, “Don’t make excuses for your failures. Tell the public what work you have done in the past 15 years. I challenge you to tell me one thing.” In another tweet, Kejriwal stated, “In the upcoming MCD elections, people have to decide whether they want a Delhi of garbage or a clean Delhi?” The polls were earlier slated to be held in April, and are now anticipated to take place by the end of this year or early 2023.