BJP skips Delhi govt’s all-party meet on water bills scheme; Cong backs it

Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said the BJP backed the scheme in the assembly but the Delhi government was “doing drama”

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday boycotted the all-party meeting called by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to discuss the one-time settlement scheme for unpaid water bills even as the Congress supported the scheme.

Congress leaders Arvinder Singh Lovely with Haroon Yusuf during the all-party meeting on one-time settlement scheme for water bills on Thursday. During the meeting, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the absence of the BJP in the meeting indicated their opposition to the scheme. (HT Photo)

During the meeting, Kejriwal said the absence of the BJP in the meeting indicated their opposition to the scheme which promises to waive off the bills of 90% of the consumers when it would be implemented. AAP received the nod from Congress when the scheme was first announced last week and the party reiterated its commitment to collaborate with the government on Thursday.

Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said the BJP backed the scheme in the assembly but the Delhi government was “doing drama”. “The government sent inflated bills to consumers, remained silent for years, and now just before elections they are talking about the scheme,” said Bidhuri.

Kejriwal said that with the scheme, water bills of nearly 90% of the people will be waived. “However, the Delhi government must provide subsidy money to the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). After this, revenue will come to DJB since the issues related to services are under the central government. That is why there is pressure on the officers. Some officers said they were being threatened, and their jobs would be lost. So now we have to take this issue to the people and mobilise them,” Kejriwal said.

Last week, the Delhi government announced the scheme to allow residents to clear pending water bills after paying substantially reduced amounts recalculated based on usage patterns. DJB has 2.7 million consumers of which 1.6 million have not paid their dues after receiving inflated bills.

Delhi urban development minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the BJP was trying to stop the scheme by “controlling the officers”.

“We have also discussed this scheme with the lieutenant governor and raised the matter in the Delhi Assembly. A resolution has also been passed in the assembly,” Bharadwaj said.

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva slammed the AAP government and said the inflated water bills resulted from installing air-flow water meters. “Kejriwal is playing dirty politics under the guise of water bill settlement scheme to divert the attention of citizens from the corruption scandals. The inflated bills result from the problems created by the Kejriwal government’s installation of air-flow water meters. BJP challenges Arvind Kejriwal to hold an all-party meeting to discuss the scams of DJB over the past 9 years. We will participate in those all-party meetings,” said Sachdeva.

Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely said: “I believe that in providing relief to the people of Delhi... no party should show any weakness or reluctance fundamentally. We could have reached some conclusions based on logical discussion in the meeting, but the BJP avoided it.”