Take legal recourse, AAP’s Durgesh Pathak tells BJP on MCD funds

“If the BJP thinks that our government has any dues left with the MCD, they should take the court’s route. Instead of putting banners across the city and staging fake protests, they should opt for more lawful means to get the money from the AAP government,” he said on Saturday.

Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak on Saturday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled municipal corporation should take legal recourse if they feel that the Delhi government actually owes them money.

He also took a dig at the Cong for not “saying a word” on the issue raised by the AAP with regard to the alleged Rs 2,400 crore scam where the north municipal corporation waived off the sum for the south civic body over rent of office occupancy at the Civic Centre. (PTI file photo)

“If the BJP thinks that our government has any dues left with the MCD, they should take the court’s route. Instead of putting banners across the city and staging fake protests, they should opt for more lawful means to get the money from the AAP government,” he said on Saturday.

“But, they are not doing it because in reality, they are merely playing politics. The AAP government has no dues left with the MCD. I want to tell every teacher, doctor, sanitation worker, or any other employee who works with the MCD that this is the actual truth,” Pathak said.

He also took a dig at the Congress for not “saying a word” on the issue raised by the AAP with regard to the alleged Rs 2,400 crore scam where the north municipal corporation waived off the sum for the south civic body over rent of office occupancy at the Civic Centre — the MCD headquarters.

“As per some news reports, a municipality school teacher has written a letter to the President of India and has appealed that either his salary be paid immediately or he should be allowed to die by suicide. During these Covid-19 times, they have not been paid their salary for the last 4-5 months. This has worsened their already bad situation. There are high court orders for everyone to see, and none of them mention that the AAP government has any dues left with the MCD,” he said.

Hitting back, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said the AAP should know that the case related to MCDs funds is still in the Delhi high court.

“AAP’s Pathak should not try to confuse the matter by showing court orders of a different case pertaining to demand of salary by employees. There is no scam in North MCD and we once again challenge the Delhi government to immediately order a CBI inquiry into this wild allegation of the Rs 2,400 crore scam. Chief minister Kejriwal should be prepared to resign if the allegation falls flat,” he said.

Abhishek Dutt, vice-president of Delhi Congress and leader of Congress in south corporation said, “We have demanded a forensic audit of the BJP-ruled Municipal Corporations of Delhi by a sitting Delhi high court judge. Despite having several sources of income, the MCDs are perennially short of funds under the BJP rule and the AAP government in Delhi is only contributing to the mess, by either delaying or not paying the money they owe to the corporations. If the audit is held, then accountability can be fixed for the reasons of the disappearance/leakage of the funds.”

He further said “The three mayors and Kejriwal were playing out a “pre-conceived drama” to divert people’s attention from the farmers’ dharna on the Delhi borders and mismanagement of the Covid pandemic.”