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AAP, BJP lock horns over increase in trade licence fee
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday said tens of thousands of traders in the city have joined its signature campaign against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for increasing taxes and trade licence fees imposed by the municipal corporations in Delhi (MCD) during the Covid-19 pandemic
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday said tens of thousands of traders in the city have joined its signature campaign against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for increasing taxes and trade licence fees imposed by the municipal corporations in Delhi (MCD) during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The state’s BJP leadership has slammed the AAP and called their campaign “misleading”.
While the AAP is in charge of the Delhi government, the BJP rules the three municipal corporations. Delhi goes to the municipal polls in 2022.
“The Aam Aadmi Party has launched a signature campaign against BJP-ruled MCDs. We have received widespread support for the campaign from traders. The BJP-ruled MCDs have exploited traders by increasing taxes even during the Covid-19 pandemic. The signature campaign has started in all the 272 municipal wards from 1st July,” said Durgesh Pathak, AAP’s in charge of municipal affairs.
“Lakhs of traders are joining this signature campaign against the BJP-ruled MCDs. As we are going ahead with the campaign, we are seeing a lot of anger among traders against the BJP,” said Pathak.
Reacting to Pathak’s comments, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said, “It is an entirely misleading campaign. The AAP leaders know it well that an increase in trade licence fees has come into effect after over 10 years and the BJP leadership in the MCDs is already reviewing the increase,” he said.
“We, at the BJP, don’t do lip service for traders but do ground work to benefit them. The latest example is the inclusion of traders as entrepreneurs under the MSME announced by the central government. The AAP should stop its misleading campaign,” said Kapoor.
