AAP says BJP owes ₹2,640 crore to MCDs for not paying for hoardings

While the AAP is in charge of the Delhi government, the BJP rules the three municipal corporations. Delhi goes to the municipal polls next year.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) owe around ₹2,640 crore to the municipal corporations of Delhi (MCDs) on account of using hoarding sites under their jurisdictions without paying, a claim which the latter denied as baseless.

AAP’s chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said the BJP did not pay a penny for using MCD’s hoardings. (Twitter)

“The party did not pay a penny for using MCD’s hoardings. The BJP should present proof if they have paid for the hoardings. The BJP has been using MCD’s paid hoarding sites for free for publicity of its top leaders, including MPs. The MCDs have been robbed off by ₹2,640 crore,” said AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj in a press conference at the party’s head office in central Delhi.

He further said, “How did the BJP put up hoardings for free at sites which cost ₹1-2 lakh per year per hoarding?... Every resident is a witness to their scams. We will organise a social media campaign against this. Earnings from the hoardings would have been used to pay the salaries of MCD’s officers, doctors, nurses and frontline workers. The BJP has not paid their salaries for months.”

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor dismissed the allegations. “Mr Saurabh Bhardwaj, by raising the political hoardings issue, has tried to shift focus from today’s burning topic of the CBI inquiry being initiated in Delhi government’s DTC bus purchase scam. People of Delhi are not interested in frivolous issues but want to know the Delhi government’s reply on DTC scam involving purchase of 1,000 buses at higher price,” he said.

While the AAP is in charge of the Delhi government, the BJP rules the three municipal corporations. Delhi goes to the municipal polls next year.