Saurabh Bharadwaj accused the LG of stealing credit for their work and misleading people. (file)
In the latest round of the war of words between the Aam Aadmi Party and Delhi's Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, the ruling party accused the latter of taking credit for the work done by the Arvind Kejriwal-led government in the national capital. The party also countered his remark that a degree is merely a receipt of educational expenses.
Setting June 30 as the deadline to clean the Yamuna river, Mr Saxena earlier today took a swipe at AAP ministers over the credit for getting it done.
"River Yamuna will be cleaned in Delhi by June 30. I have no objection if any minister wants to take credit for our work," LG VK Saxena said, without naming anyone.
Hitting back at the LG, AAP minister Saurabh Bharadwaj accused him of stealing credit for their work and misleading people.
"You must have seen, in the last few days, that Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena arrives to see the work being done by the Delhi government and then issues a long press release. It is portrayed as if the Lt Governor is doing that work. Surprisingly, when a reporter today told him that the Delhi government is doing it, he said if any minister wants to take credit for our work, they can take it. I am surprised -- how can this be the work of the LG? How can someone mislead people like this?" he said.
Lashing out at the LG, Mr Bharadwaj further said that it's out of the goodness of the Chief Minister's heart that Mr Saxena is allowed to tour projects of the Delhi government, the Delhi Jal Board, and the floods department.
"We thought, 'let him tour Delhi'. He's a tourist. People come from far to see Delhi, it's worth it. But he's now saying we can take credit for his work?" an exasperated Mr Bharadwaj said, and detailed the Delhi government's efforts to clean the Yamuna since 2017.
The minister pointed out that Mr Saxena is not authorised to spend even Rs 1 of Delhi's budget, and that it was Mr Kejriwal's government that approved the budget, after which the concerned departments started working on it. He said Mr Saxena is just repeating what Arvind Kejriwal had already said in his 6-point plan in November 2021.
"The cleaning of Yamuna is going on at a fast pace. Najafgarh drains are being cleaned. 15-16 drains have also been fixed. We will clear the 22 km stretch of Yamuna in Delhi by that time. The work of cleaning the filth on the banks of the Yamuna is also going on in mission mode. We cleaned the Qudsiya Ghat in 15 days," an official release from VK Saxena said. It also claimed that the major source of pollution in the Najafgarh Lake, including the huge quantity of domestic and industrial effluent coming from Gurugram and the possible ways to overcome the pollution in the lake and preserve the aquatic life, were discussed in his visit today.
Saurabh Bharadwaj then listed all the successful drain-cleaning projects that his government has already completed.
"His job is not to visit drains but various police stations that come under him. There are 350 police stations in Delhi. He should visit them. But he visits drains where work is going on and claims credit for the work being done by the government," he said.
Mr Bharadwaj pointed out that in March 2022, Manish Sisodia allocated Rs 705 crores in his budget speech to re-build the Najafgarh drain into Sahibi river, while the Lieutenant Governor took charge only in May 2022. "Going around claiming false credit doesn't suit the position of the Lieutenant Governor," he added.
On VK Saxena's controversial comment on degrees, Mr Bharadwaj questioned how many of his secretaries are without them.
"Why have they hired people with degrees? Your secretary should have a degree, the doctor you want to get treatment from should have a degree, but the chief minister will do without a degree, the prime minister will do without a degree?" he quipped.