Former MP and senior Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit on Tuesday lashed out at Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal, calling him a “pathological liar” and said he will file defamation cases against Delhi chief minister Atishi and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh over their allegation against him of taking money from the BJP.
“A few days ago, the Delhi CM said that we took money from the BJP. After this Press conference, I will file a criminal and civil defamation case against (CM) Atishi and Sanjay Singh. I will ask for Rs 10 crore and out of that money, I will donate Rs five crore to Yamuna cleaning and the remaining half will be donated to clean the polluted air in Delhi,” he said.
They used to say that they have increased sewage treatment by 1.5 times in Delhi. “When the Congress lost the elections, the sewage treatment capacity was at 604 MGD and it remains the same today. The former chief minister lies that he has increased sewage treatment work,” Dikshit alleged.
The Lieutenant Governor took a review in 2023 and it was found that the pollution effluent going into Yamuna has doubled in the last seven to eight years, he said. The Congress leader said they have also claimed that they have saved money in construction of flyovers.
Dikshit is son of former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit who served as CM from 1998 till 2013. In 2013, Dikshit lost to Arvind Kejriwal in the New Delhi constituency in the election that witnessed a Congress rout.
“The initial estimate of Madhuban to Mukarba Chowk flyover by Sheila Dikshit’s government was Rs 422 crore, but we built it at Rs 297 crore. The former government estimated the construction of Mangolpuri to Madhuban Chowk at Rs 423 crore, we built it at Rs 323 crore,” Dikshit said, adding that they have given five to seven examples.
The preliminary estimate of Madhuban to Mukarba Chowk flyover was made at Rs 422 crore in June 2012. After that the Cabinet decision came and the tendering was done on March 22, 2013 for Rs 280 crore, Dikshit said during the Press conference.
“That means the money was not saved by Kejriwal’s government, the money was saved by Sheila’s government. I agree that you can say that the government had saved money, but saying that Kejriwal had saved money is not a lie, then tell me which word can we use for this?” he asked.
Similarly, in June 2012, the estimate for Azadpur-Prembari flyover was Rs 247 crore and the amount for tender in 2013 was Rs 182 crore, Dikshit said. “I am sorry that I am using a very strong word for the former chief minister called ‘pathological liar’,” he said.
Continuing his attack on Kejriwal, Dikshit added, “Arvind Kejriwal showed 360 newspaper cuttings. He is the first person who gives newspaper cutting as evidence...The day when CM Atishi said that we are taking money from BJP, that day former PM Manmohan Singh passed away. That is why we could not do a Press conference to counter the allegations.”
In education, they claimed that they have done a revolutionary work in 12th pass percentage. They used to say that students are coming to their schools in large numbers, Dikshit said. “When Sheila’s government lost in Delhi, there were 16.40 lakh students in Delhi government schools. Today, there are 17 to 18 lakh children. If enrolment had increased at the pace of the Congress government, today there would have been 22 to 23 lakh children, which means there are four to five lakh students less in our government schools,” he said.
