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‘Want clear air, not excuses’, says Rahul Gandhi as Delhi AQI worsens; BJP hits back
As Delhi's AQI continues to deteriorate, both Congress and the BJP have been engaged in a blame game.
As the air quality levels in Delhi continue to deteriorate, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday raised his concern and called on both BJP governments in the Centre and the NCT government to work to improve the current state.
In a post on X, the Lok Sabha leader of opposition said Delhi's air is becoming "increasingly poisonous", but the BJP governments keep changing their excuses.
However, the BJP hit back and accused the Congress government of letting the air quality in Delhi deteriorate during their 15 year tenure as the government. Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa also accused Gandhi of defaming the people of Delhi, the Rekha Gupta government, and hit out at the party's failed alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
What did Rahul Gandhi say?
"Year after year, Delhi's air is becoming increasingly poisonous, but BJP governments just keep changing their excuses. Now, both at the Centre and in Delhi, it's their own government in power. No excuses now, the public wants clean air," he said in his post on X.
Along with the post, Gandhi also shared an over eight-minute video in which he is seen discussing the issue of air pollution with an environmentalist near the India Gate complex in Delhi early in the morning.
“I have been having breathing issues and my eyes are burning. The last week has been terrible,” said Rahul in the video.
In the video, Gandhi was also heard talking with the environmentalist, stating that he was considering shifting his mother, veteran Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, out of Delhi due to the rising levels of pollution.
BJP's Delhi govt hits back
Hitting back, Delhi minister Sirsa released a video in which he said that he would like to remind Rahul Gandhi that Delhi's air quality first deteriorated under the 15-year Congress rule. The environment minister added further that the quality worsened during AAP's 10-year tenure.
He added that the most polluted days were recorded during the combined 25 years of the Congress and the AAP rule in Delhi.
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"The cleanest air days in a decade have been under the Rekha Gupta government in Delhi. It proves you (Rahul) are systematically trying to defame the people of Delhi and its government. Let me tell you, this AQI problem was created by the Congress and its partner AAP," Sirsa said in the video.
Citing a slightly lower AQI, the BJP leader further compared the data to that during Arvind Kejriwal's term.
"The AQI is lowest today under the Rekha Gupta government, even though the number of vehicles has increased by 10 per cent in Delhi. Also, construction activities have increased by 21 per cent, and even petrol and diesel vehicles older than 15 years and 10 years are on the road," he said.
Delhi AQI remains ‘very poor’
As of 7 AM on Tuesday, the Central Pollution Control Board recorded very poor AQI levels across Delhi. In Anand Vihar, the AQI stood at 392.
Meanwhile, in Burari area, where the Delhi government also conducted its cloud seeding trials, the AQI stood at 'very poor' 393 as of 6 AM.
As for the overall AQI levels, Delhi stood at 'very poor' at 309 based on the data presented at 4 PM on Monday.
