NEW DELHI: War of words continue between the Delhi Government and L-G VK Saxena over “Red Light On, Gaadi Off ” campaign for the second consecutive day as the latter alleged Environment Minister Gopal Rai of bluffing and misleading the public over the scheme.
Sources in the L-G’s office said on Friday that Rai did not tell the truth about the date of the campaign launch and claimed that the AA P did so to coerce Saxena into taking a decision. “Rai lied to the people of Delhi that the campaign was to be launched on October 28.
The file sent to the L-G by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal clearly mentions the date of launch as October 31,” a source said. The sources further claimed that the file was sent to the L-G secretariat on October 21, which was a Friday, after which the offices were “fully” opened only on October 27 (Thursday), following the weekend, a gazetted holiday and a restricted holiday.
They also said Saxena was out of office due to prior commitments on October 26. “The files sent to the L-G are not perfunctory in nature. They require proper consideration and application of mind,” a source said. Meanwhile, Rai held a presser where he accused Saxena of making excuses for not giving a timely approval for the campaign and questioned his seriousness about curbing pollution in the national capital.
“The L-G issued statements on October 26 criticising the chief minister regarding Chhath preparations. I want to know if his office is open to do politics and closed to protect Delhiites from pollution. The L-G is either not aware of the seriousness of the issue or is making excuses for not giving a timely nod to the drive,” he said. Clarifying the confusion regarding the date of launch, the minister said earlier, the plan was to roll out the drive on October 31.
“The L-G has withheld the file of the Red Light On, Gaadi Off campaign on the pretext of leave from work. He has made three excuses for not signing the file. He should sign the file immediately instead of making excuses. Fighting against pollution is the collective responsibility of all of us,” he added. The f l a g shi p s cheme launched in October 2020 aims to cut down on vehicular pollution in the city. The government deployed thousands of volunteers across major traffic intersections to urge drivers to switch off their vehicles while waiting for the traffic light to turn green.