Congress to highlight failures of BJP's Delhi MPs, says Arvinder Singh Lovely

The Congress will reach out to people and highlight the failures of the seven BJP MPs in Delhi during their tenures, the party's Delhi unit chief Arvinder Singh Lovely said on Tuesday. The declaration comes a day after the BJP's seven candidates in Delhi listed their "100-day priorities", including improving health and education facilities, if elected.

The BJP, however, hit back at Lovely and claimed that the Centre and the party's outgoing MPs contributed immensely to Delhi's development.

Lovely said at a press conference earlier on Tuesday, "We will go to every Lok Sabha constituency and highlight the failures of the respective BJP MPs in the past 10 years." The Congress is also likely to release a "charge sheet" against the BJP MPs next week, he added.

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rural development scheme, the MPs were expected to adopt 56 villages but only 12 were adopted, Lovely alleged. "The Congress, during its 'Pratigya' rally held at every assembly constituency under the 'Hissab Do, Jawab Do' campaign, demanded that the BJP MPs provide a list of works executed by them using their MPLAD funds," he said.

"Delhi's toxic air has reduced the lifespan of every citizen and the polluted Yamuna has become an eyesore and a source of despair. The BJP MPs are sighted near the Yamuna only briefly during Chhath Puja," he alleged.

The Congress leader claimed that the BJP MPs did not contribute to setting up new schools, hospitals or other infrastructure in the national capital during the past 10 years.

The BJP is instead taking credit for projects such as expansion of the Delhi Metro network and construction of the Signature Bridge that were started by the Congress government. It only delayed these projects, resulting in the escalation of construction costs, Lovely alleged.

Hitting back at Lovely's allegations, Praveen Shankar Kapoor, a spokesperson for the BJP's Delhi unit, said, "The BJP-led Central government and our outgoing MPs have made immense contributions in the development of Delhi."

The BJP said in a statement that the Centre invested more than Rs 3 lakh crore in the development of Delhi during the past five years at the behest of the outgoing MPs.

It highlighted road infrastructure projects such as the UER2 (Urban Extension Road 2), development projects such as Bharat Mandapam and Yashobhoomi, "gifting" of 1,650 electric buses for Delhiites, construction of eastern and western peripheral roads along with the construction of Eco Park at Badarpur to check pollution, apart from the rapid rail and the Delhi Metro's extended phases.

"The role of our MPs during the Covid phase was memorable, that too at a time when the entire Delhi government had gone missing," it said.

The BJP also challenged Lovely and "his colleagues" in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to present a "white paper" on the Delhi government's development projects. Virendra Sachdeva, the BJP's Delhi unit president, will soon release a "white paper" on chief minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal's corruption in Delhi, it added.

The AAP, which is contesting the Lok Sabha polls in an alliance with the Congress in Delhi, on Monday, 18 March also dared the BJP to release a "white paper" on what its MPs had done in the last 10 years for the national capital.

Asked about Enforcement Directorate summonses to Kejriwal, Lovely said, "The Congress has always maintained that if anyone is guilty, then action must be taken. The Congress opposes the way in which agencies are being used for pursuing political interests."

Polling for Delhi's seven Lok Sabha seats will be held on 25 May in the sixth phase of the general elections, with 1.47 crore people eligible to exercise their franchise, according to the schedule announced by the Election Commission of India.