Taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the alleged corruption in the municipal corporations, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday that the BJP has turned Delhi into a “sewer”.
Also, the CM compared corporations with a “bottomless well” where no matter “how much money you put, it all disappears”. Following Kejriwal’s speech, the Delhi Assembly passed a resolution to form a House Committee to investigate alleged corruption and irregularities in the three corporations and suggested measures for improving the situation.
“The BJP-run MCDs have turned Delhi into a sewer. The Prime Minister, who talks about Swachch Bharat, is travelling the world. But I wonder with what face he visits Washington, london and Tokyo which are spotlessly clean while Delhi has become a huge garbage dump and stinks so bad. The BJP has completely ruined Delhi,” Kejriwal said.
The CM spoke at the end of a two-day special session of the Assembly convened to discuss issues related to the three municipal corporations in Delhi that are controlled by the BJP
He further attacked the three corporations for not doing any work but “only ask for money”. “For every job they are supposed to do, they say that they have no money. We paid East MCD double the money than was given to them by Congress and BJP Governments. To North MCD, we gave 50 per cent more money than was given to them by the BJP Government last year. Where does that money goIJ It’s not that they have hired more employees or increased salaries. Yet, they paid salaries when they were given half the money by the Delhi Government than they are being given now,” he said.
“No matter how much money you give them, they always ask for more. With that money, they build big houses for the counsellors but don’t pay the salaries of their employees. If they don’t have money to pay salaries of their employees, then they should resign if they have any self-esteem and let those take over who can pay salaries,” he added.
Taking further dig at the corporations, he said even the top BJP leaders know that money given to the MCDs will go waste.
“During the first MCD strike, I went to meet Arun Jaitley to ask him to pay the MCDs from the Central Government’s funds. But Jaitley ji did not do that because even he knows the extent of corruption among the MCDs. Even he knows agar MCD ko paisa denge toh wo who bhi kha jayeinge (that if the Central Government gives money to MCDs, they will sink that money as well). Give them Rs 1000 crore and they still won’t pay salaries to their employees. The MCDs have become like bottomless wells. No matter how much money you give them, it all disappears,” he said.
Kejriwal also accused the BJP of being “anti-Dalit” and said that is why BJP councillors on Thursday beat up a Dalit councillor. “It had nothing to do with AAP cap he was wearing. He was beaten up because these BJP corporators cannot tolerate a Dalit corporator sitting along with them,” he said.
Following Kejriwal’s speech, the Delhi Assembly passed a resolution to form a House Committee to investigate alleged corruption and irregularities in the three corporations and suggested measures for improving the situation.