BJP: AAP protests to divert attention from ‘corruption’ in Delhi

BJP accuses AAP of protest theatrics to distract from corruption; AAP counters, saying BJP avoids governance and fails to deliver on promises.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of staging protests outside the Delhi assembly to only divert attention from the “corruption” during its regime in the Capital.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva at a felicitation ceremony by Delhi Purvanchal Morcha in New Delhi on Sunday. (PTI)

The AAP hit back, saying that the BJP’s strategy was to ignore governance and attack the AAP.

On February 25, 21 AAP legislators — including former chief minister Atishi — were suspended from the assembly for disrupting lieutenant governor VK Saxena’s address to the House and ignoring requests to maintain order. On February 27, the MLAs staged a day-long protest against the BJP government outside the assembly after being denied entry into the complex.

Addressing a press conference on Sunday, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva the previous AAP government wanted to “hide its corruption”, due to which it did not table a number of Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) reports in the assembly.

“Investigation will be carried out and every act of corruption committed in the last 10 years will be accounted for,” Sachdeva said, adding that in the run-up to the Delhi polls, the BJP had pledged to present the CAG report in the very first House session.

“Now that the reports have been revealed, [AAP convener] Arvind Kejriwal is completely missing, while his MLAs — who are now unemployed — are misleading the public through false protests… Instead of providing public services, the government was busy indulging in corruption. He alleged that the excise policy was deliberately changed to benefit three private brands. Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia played this game. An investigation will take place, and the guilty will not be spared,” he added.

Asked about the implementation of the Ayushman Bharat scheme in Delhi, Sachdeva confirmed that the scheme has been approved and legal procedures are underway. He reiterated the BJP’s promise of providing employment, and stated that the party is focused on fulfilling its commitments.

The Delhi BJP chief also reiterated the party’s three-year development goals to clean the Yamuna — including the launch of water cruises and the creation of a Yamuna waterfront — which he said are expected to be completed ahead of schedule.

In its response, the AAP said that the BJP kept criticising the party and ignored governance.

“The BJP has come to power in Delhi after 27 years. The people are waiting for them to fulfill their promises. But what is BJP’s real plan? Not governance, not delivery—just five years of abusing AAP. Their strategy is to divert attention, they have made big promises but there’s no concrete plan to implement them, when questioned they will blame the AAP for everything instead of taking responsibility. Delhi needs governance, not theatrics. The AAP will continue to fight for the people, ensuring that the BJP is held accountable for every unfulfilled promise,” an AAP spokesperson said.