With a year into the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party Government, Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay presents first year Report Card of Delhi Government and analyses the Government’s performance and how anti-corruption crusader plank stood demolished with every new story of Kejriwal’s MlA or Minister’s corruption saga. In an interview with Ankita Sharma, Upadhyay also recounts the 70 promises, series of controversies and failures of AAP Government.
What are the hits and misses of Kejriwal GovernmentIJ
The Kejriwal Government has been a big failure. If we take a look at the promises that they had made to the people, their report card states that they haven’t fulfilled even one. They said water upto 20,000 kilolitre will be free, electricity at half the rates. One year later, Delhi continues to get electricity at the same rates while the power discoms got a lot of subsidies. Be it, unauthorised colonies, jhuggi clusters, group housing societies, villages or other colonies in the city nowhere the water is free. Only the Government can tell which section of the society is getting free water. People of lower, middle and upper income groups are equally agitated as they get heavy electricity and water bills. They promise new schools and colleges, Wi-Fi for youth, CCTVs for women security, marshals in buses, and houses for those living in jhuggis, regularisation of class four employees, but nothing turned into reality. In fact, in an order passed by Delhi Government, they have asked the municipal corporations to get rid of contractual employees as one of the conditions for granting loan. These are not baseless allegations; these are orders showing their double standards. Moreover, they fought elections on anti-corruption plank but we have seen that a string of their Cabinet Ministers who have been involved in corruption and the number of scams Delhi Government has been involved in. There are only misses in the AAP Government.
According to you, who is a better Chief Minister for Delhi — Sheila Dikshit or Arvind KejriwalIJ
Certainly not Arvind Kejriwal. If Sheila Dikshit was not corrupt, she would have been on the CM seat. She worked well on many fronts. But certainly not Kejriwal, he is an anarchist.
The Aam Aadmi Party was accused of doing dharna politics, but nowadays the BJP is seen doing dharnas. What do you have to say about thatIJ
What to doIJ The BJP is the Opposition party and it protests against corruption in the Kejriwal Government, it protests against auto-permit scam. It depends on the issue on which one protests. Unlike the BJP, the Kejriwal Government sits on days like January 26 and August15. They sit on dharnas to protest for people like Somnath Bharti who throws a dog on his pregnant wife and beats her up. They protest to deceive the people, tell lies to people. They create drama and façade, all they wanted was to tell lies and make their way into the Government. The number of cases that’ll be bestowed on this CM will make history, people have begun to understand that the AAP Government is a liar.
On a scale of 10, how much will you rate Kejriwal GovernmentIJ
Zero
The AAP is going to make a debut in MCD polls. They have made their agenda very clear and that is corruption by BJP in civic bodies. How would you counter this allegationIJ
Can they come up with any case of corruption by the BJP in municipal corporationsIJ They can’t. We can put a list of scams, be it auto-permit scam or CNG sticker scam. They alleged salary scam in corporations, how is it even possibleIJ CAG audits the corporations. They have double standards, they don’t want release their dues and are only doing sensationalism. The AAP Government sensationalised the issue by saying there’s a salary scam without having released funds under the 3rd finance commission, the fourth finance commission is yet to be implemented, corporations are dependent on the Delhi Government for funds. The Government is supposed to give 10.5 per cent of taxes to corporations, but they haven’t done so. Their income has increased tremendously, but they are alleging salary scam in corporations. We challenge the AAP Government to conduct civic elections, things will be clear and this is how we will counter their corruption allegation. People have understood their lies.
According to the reports, Odd-Even scheme has not benefited Delhi. But Kejriwal somewhere has been able to make people believe that it was a successful experiment. He has been able to connect with the people. Do you think BJP lags behind in connecting with the publicIJ
No, not at all. According to latest surveys, our vote percentage is still the same. The AAP Government plans to come up with blueline buses all over again which was put off the streets with much effort. With this, they are inviting goondaism in Delhi. Odd-Even has not helped bring pollution level down, it has only brought more inconvenience to the people.
Do you think the BJP has somewhere failed to create pressure on the Delhi GovernmentIJ A controversy comes up, BJP protests, meets the lG and the issue subsides.
What do doIJ There is a new controversy every day. We cannot tie ourselves to a single matter and ignore the rest. There are so many controversies: one day there is Somnath Bharti issue, next day CNG sticker scam, then after a few days auto-permit scam. We have to take up all the issues.
The AAP had set aside Rs526 crore for advertisements. The BJP had alleged corruption on that front, so what is real matter and have you planned to take any actionIJ
We have written to the l-G, the President of India regarding this matter. People have alleged that Sisodia’s close relative is running the agency that is advertising on behalf of the AAP Government. I agree that the Government needs to publicise their work, but there is way of doing it. They are running advertisements on radio all across the cities, what does it showIJ There is an agency who is working on their behalf.
Kejriwal used to say that he has evidence against Sheila Dikshit and many others. Are you also preparing a dossierIJ
Yes, we have. We have 70 points rebuttal prepared where they have failed to keep up their promises and went back on their words. They used to say the Congress is corrupt but they aren’t taking any action now since they themselves corrupt.
Any one positive thing you see in Kejriwal GovernmentIJ
Initially when the AAP came to power, we thought all these new faces might be good people who will actually work for the public. But in one year what they have done is to create mistrust between the people. They have created trust deficit within the society and there is not a single positive factor about this Government.