In what is sure to spark a fresh round of accusations and counter-accusations the AAP on Friday accused the BJP of "backstabbing" Delhiites by making officials unethically pass the MCD budget.
The AAP said that the budget was passed even before the elections of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor could take place and demanded that the budget be withdrawn. AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said that they learnt through newspaper reports that the budget had been passed by the MCD and since this was the objective, the elections of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor were deliberately delayed.
However, a senior MCD official said the budget had not been passed.
Bharadwaj said, "The budget of the MCD is a very important document that gives the detailed break-up of how much money the elected Government hopes to spend in the fulfillment of its promises. This is where all the planning of the team is reflected and then work begins in mission mode to deal with the problems that the people of the city are facing. But what has happened now is the betrayal of the citizens of Delhi by the BJP. Despite losing the elections to the Aam Aadmi Party, the BJP-ruled Central Government has illegally passed the budget of the MCD through officials...."
The AAP won 134 wards in the MCD polls in December while the BJP won 104 wards. "The bureaucrats of the MCD who have passed the budget should be asked to fight the MCD polls the next time. This is a betrayal of the people of Delhi. It is AAP that has been elected by the people to run the MCD, but the people passing the budget are bureaucrats of the MCD, what sense does this make?” Bharadwaj said. Accusing the BJP of using similar tactics wherever it loses polls, Bharadwaj said the party uses Governors to obstruct the works of the elected Governments. "They have always said that 'Delhi is not a full State' and tried to obstruct all the developmental works of the Aam Aadmi Party. But they are doing the same in Tamil Nadu and Telangana, where the Governors have tried to overshadow the elected Governments. The Congress party also until now blamed the AAP for not working with the Central Government, but look at what their MLAs are doing in other states," he added.
Bharadwaj alleged the "dirty politics of the BJP" has led to the derailment of key political institutions in the country. "One of the key reasons, after the Partition in 1947, India went on to become a robust nation and Pakistan lies in such shambles is the importance these two countries gave to political institutions in their respective country.
“In India, key institutions such as the Supreme Court, the elected Government and its role were formed and given importance. But now the BJP and its leaders have made a mockery of these institutions and this is something that we will strongly fight against,” he said. Senior party leader Dilip Pandey echoed similar sentiments and accused the BJP of bypassing the elected government of Delhi and passing the budget before the mayor's election. He demanded that the budget be withdrawn.
"BJP has forcefully passed the budget before the Mayor's election. They must withdraw this budget," he said. A senior MCD official denied the allegations. "No such development has taken place. I do not know where this has come from. No budget has been passed,” he said. Another official also said that budget had not been passed. "There was a discussion recently but it is wrong to claim that budget has been passed," he said.
