Odd-Even On Road, Rage In The Air: BJP, Arvind Kejriwal Trade Blows

New Delhi: The political heat in Delhi is giving stiff competition to the capital's scorching summer as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the BJP clashed over the second phase of Odd-Even car rationing scheme.

With a union calling an auto strike on Monday, which, if successful, will cause commuters considerable trouble, the Chief Minister is absolutely livid.

On Saturday morning, accusing the BJP of engineering the strike, Mr Kejriwal tweeted:

BJP appeals ppl to break odd-even. BJP auto union calls strike.BJP wants odd- even to fail.But Del will fail BJP(1/2 pic.twitter.com/IghmuqjU4f

- Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 16, 2016

He also posted a barrage of newspaper cutouts and tweets that pitched the program as a success.

pic.twitter.com/BKsw6xTGPs

- Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 16, 2016

Vijay Goel, former chief of the BJP in Delhi, has called the scheme, which catapulted Mr Kejriwal to Fortune magazine's list of 50 greatest leaders in the world, a mere photo op and a publicity stunt.

"Arvind Kejriwal only wants to spend on people's tax money for propaganda and he is not interested in reducing pollution and traffic," Mr Goel said today.

Lashing out at Odd-Even posters plastered across Delhi that show a smiling Mr Kejriwal urging people to follow the rules, the BJP leader had said on Monday that he would violate them just as a mark of protest.
 While streets had remained largely empty on Friday - the first day of the 15-day scheme - many attributed it to a public holiday for Ram Navami. Around 1,300 people were caught violating the rule and fined. Over 11,00 violators were fined on Saturday.

Weather experts also said that gains from fewer cars on roads failed to ease pollution yesterday as polluted winds blew in over the city from the North West. On Saturday however, early data showed a slight improvement in air quality, the Centre's pollution monitoring body SAFAR said.