Arvind Kejriwal yesterday said that “there is no use in abusing each other”.
New Delhi:
A day after Delhi’s Lt. Governor and Chief Minister publicly announced to work together as a team and not indulge in blame game during the crisis, AAP and BJP have stepped up attacks against each other over situations like the Delhi floods. .
AAP has accused the people of Delhi of a conspiracy and blamed the BJP government in Haryana and the Centre. The allegation led to a sharp response from the BJP, which said that the AAP thinks everyone is in on the conspiracy, but Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is “sitting Sheesh Mahal Air-conditioned comfort”, working properly.
At a joint press conference yesterday, which was meant to signal unity, Mr Kejriwal and Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena stressed the need to work together as a team. “Right now, we need to work as a team. I can say a lot but that’s not what we should be doing at this time,” LG said.
Similarly, Mr. Kejriwal said, “This is a crisis when people should help other people. There is no use in abusing each other. BJP has been abusing me since yesterday. Let them do it, I don’t care.”
The message doesn’t seem to have reached AAP officials, but Delhi minister Sourav Bharadwaj has launched an all-out attack on the BJP.
“The BJP-led governments at the Center and Haryana are conspiring against the people of Delhi. They are deliberately trying to create floods in Delhi. The question arises that if there is no rain in Delhi, how is the water? The level of the Yamuna is one meter higher than the previous record in 1978? Mr Bhardwaj said. .
“From July 9 to 13, water was deliberately released towards Delhi as part of a conspiracy. Last year, in August, water was released not only towards Delhi, but also in the east and west canals. The flow was distributed evenly across multiple states, due to which Delhi did not flood. ,” news agency ANI quoted him as saying.
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Responding to the allegations, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said Mr Kejriwal was told about the difference between barrages and dams.
“The region has received more rain than expected or forecast. The rains in the hilly areas have increased the water level in our rivers. The Yamuna had 1 lakh cusecs of water, which went to 3.7 lakh cusecs the next day. We told Mr. Kejriwal that this is a barrage, not a dam. A A dam can stop water, a barrage can store it,” Mr Khattar said.
He also said that although the water in the barrage can be controlled to a certain extent, its capacity is 50 lakh cusecs. “If the water crosses that level, naturally it has to be released,” Mr Khattar said.
Attacking AAP, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said Mr Kejriwal’s priorities are not working, making excuses.
“The minister who is supposed to be working, is accusing everyone from the army and the National Disaster Response Force to the LG and the Center – who are helping the people in conspiracies 24X7 – but the one who is sitting is Sheesh Mahal And enjoying the air conditioning is right. That Chief Minister is right,” he said.
Mr. Bhatia added, “The Chief Minister is saying 3.5 lakh cusecs of water has been released. 8 lakh cusecs of water was released in 2013 and 2019, but there was no flood. This time there is a flood because the Chief Minister’s priorities are not working. Time blames Punjab and Haryana for pollution and migrants for lack of beds.”
AAP and BJP have been at loggerheads for years now, but the dispute escalated in May, when the Center passed an ordinance regulating services in Delhi.