BJP drove MCDs to bankruptcy, alleges AAP; BJP hits

A day after the Delhi government said it would give Rs.938 crore to the three municipal corporations of Delhi (MCDs) to pay employees salaries, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and said its leaders have driven the civic bodies to bankruptcy due to their rampant corruption.

The BJP – which leads all three municipal corporations in the capital -- dismissed the allegations as “baseless” and said the money assured by the AAP government is not even one-third of what it actually owes the MCDs for the third quarter of the financial year 2020-21.

“Despite knowing that the BJP-ruled MCD owes more than ₹6,000 crore to the Delhi government, we have released Rs.938 crore because we do not want the MCD employees to suffer anymore. This money was meant for government departments and schemes. The Delhi government has given loans to the BJP-ruled MCDs several times in the past six years. But rampant corruption by BJP leaders have driven the MCDs to bankruptcy -- they cannot even pay their employees. The BJP should resign from the charge of the MCDs immediately,” said Atishi, AAP MLA from Kalkaji, at a press conference at the party head office in central Delhi on Friday.

Employees of the three MCDs in Delhi – from teachers and doctors to horticulture staff and sanitation workers – have been on strike, on and off, for several months now, protesting against the delay/non-payment of salaries. On Thursday, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had said the government would give Rs.938 crore to the MCDs for payment of employee salaries.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said: “The allegations by MLA Atishi are baseless. The party is misleading people by portraying as if the Rs.938 crore is some sort of a “special grant”. The amount is actually less than one-third of what the Delhi government owes the three MCDs for the third quarter of 2020-21. The government owes Rs.13,000 crore to the three MCDs in total.”