Cong blames BJP for MCD’s ‘mountain’ of debt

A day after it lambasted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for using national issues in local elections, the Congress blamed it for ruining the financial condition of the civic body.

Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Jai Prakash Aggarwal claimed that the MCD had a liability of more than Rs 4,000 crore.

“The financial condition of the MCD is very bad. It has a huge liability. This liability includes about Rs 1,000 crore the corporation has to pay to its various contractors,” Aggarwal alleged.

He also said that the corporation was in dire financial straits and blamed the BJP for its poor condition. “If the corporation is neck deep in debt, it is because of the ruling BJP. It (BJP) didn’t do anything to strengthen the finances. So how we can we trust that the finances will improve if the BJP is given another five years in power?” Aggarwal said.

The Delhi government had recently made an arrangement of Rs 1,000 crore to pay off the contractors before the world’s second largest civic body was divided into three smaller bodies.

on sec’s notice Replying to a question, Aggarwal said he had written to the state election commission (SEC) to provide details of the allegations that he sought votes on religious grounds. The SEC had served him a notice in this regard on Wednesday.

Campaign managers

Meanwhile, the Congress on Thursday released a list of 23 leaders who would oversee the party’s campaign in their respective areas. The campaign would be led by Aggarwal and the members include chief minister Sheila Dikshit, her cabinet colleagues, seven MPs, senior MLAs and AICC members.

Senior Congress leaders said former MPs and MLAs of Delhi, office-bearers and functionaries in the state and district committees of the party have also been told to contribute in campaigning.

Some party leaders have also finalised a list of celebrities, which largely includes film actors, who would campaign for the party.