"Arvind Kejriwal Is Known For False Promises": BJP On Delhi's Air Quality

The BJP on Friday accused Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of incompetence and making false promises as the city battles extremely high levels of pollution, and said he is more dangerous to people than the stifling air endangering them.

BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia noted that Mr Kejriwal had sought a year exactly on this day in 2022 to curb pollution in the national capital and dared him to hold a press conference on the issue to highlight what steps his government has taken.

He has been in power for close to nine years but has taken no solid step to deal with the menace of pollution, Mr Bhatia claimed.

"Arvind Kejriwal is known for corruption. He is also known for incompetence and false promises," he said, alleging that the entire country, besides Delhi, considers him as the most incompetent and idle chief minister.

"This stifling pollution in Delhi is dangerous to people but if someone is more dangerous, then it is Kejriwal. His sole aim is to practice petty, low-level politics," he added.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader has run away from the Enforcement Directorate's summons to him in the alleged excise policy scam case but he should respond to people's questions, the BJP leader said.

Mr Kejriwal used to blame stubble burning in Punjab for Delhi's pollution and then had sought a year in 2022 to deal with it after the AAP came to power in Punjab, he said, while lashing out at him for the closure of a smog tower at Rajiv Chowk in Central Delhi.

The smog tower was projected as a solution to pollution but it has turned out to be a "tower of corruption" of Mr Kejriwal, he alleged.

Mr Bhatia also attacked Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai for allegedly blaming the Centre and "outsiders" for the city's pollution, saying such a poisonous mindset has led to the city becoming a gas chamber. He should apologise, the BJP spokesperson said.

Mr Rai had said that the large smog tower installed two years ago to reduce air pollution in the vicinity has been shut down arbitrarily on the orders of Delhi Pollution Control Committee Chairman (DPCC) Ashwani Kumar Bhatia claimed that the BJP-ruled Centre has extended all help to Delhi and other states such as Punjab and Haryana for tackling pollution. 

Stubble-burning incidents had gone down in Haryana in 2022 but had risen in Punjab, he claimed. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)