AAP says MCDs owe on Rs 4,000 crore to Delhi govt, civic bodies refute claims

New Delhi

New Delhi

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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday claimed the Delhi government owed no outstanding amount to the BJP-run municipal corporations. It said on the contrary the civic bodies owed nearly Rs 4,000 crore to the government.

Addressing a press conference, the party’s chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj attributed the information to the recent reports released by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India on Delhi’s finances.

“In a major setback to the BJP, India’s highest audit agency CAG, which comes under the Central Government, stated that the Delhi government has given not only sufficient funds but also excess funds to the MCDs. CAG has also observed that all the three MCDs have huge debts to the Delhi Government which they have not paid,” said Bharadwaj who is AAP’s MLA from Greater Kailash.

Quoting the CAG report, the party said the Centre had given 23% less funds to the Delhi government. “The Central government gives this fund to the Delhi government to help in the infrastructure development,” he said.

Responding to AAP’s claims, the South Delhi municipal corporation’s standing committee chairperson Bhupender Gupta said the Arvind Kejriwal-led party was “misleading” people.

“We have all the documents to show what (money) has been given to us, and what has been withdrawn. We will provide the papers to the Delhi Government to see,” he said.

His counterpart in North Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC),Jai Prakash, said, “I am yet to go through the CAG report, but we will respond to it.”