In the midst of a verbal spat between the BJP and AAP over funding of projects for the G20 Summit, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj stated on Monday that LG V K Saxena does not have the “power to sanction money” for projects in the national capital.
In response to Bharadwaj’s comments, Saxena stated that if anyone wanted to claim credit for the work he had done, they might, adding that if that were the case, it indicated that the Centre was doing a good job.
On Sunday, the BJP claimed that the Centre had supported Delhi’s transformation for the G20 Summit and accused the capital’s current ruling AAP administration of trying to take credit for it.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) hit back, saying that it is shocked to see that the “BJP had to pass the developmental work done by the city government as its own”.
On Monday, Bharadwaj said, “Whatever work done by PWD and MCD is done using taxpayers’ money. PWD did not even get a penny from the Centre.”
After seeing the renowned Town Hall from the British era and Ghalib ki Haveli in the Walled City, Bharadwaj made this statement when reporters questioned him about the BJP’s claims.
89 roads have been beautified by PWD, according to the minister, who shared a list of the projects. The work comprised cleaning, tree planting, and resurfacing the roads.
“It is Delhi government’s money and by that I mean it is taxpayers’ money. There is no money given by the Centre or LG. Some people are having this misunderstanding that it is LG’s money,” Bharadwaj asserted.
Citing the Constitution, he said, “Show me any article of the Constitution or lawbook that gives LG power to sanction even a single penny.”
“PWD engineer can sanction ₹20 lakh because he is answerable to the department that is accountable to minister, who in turn is answerable to the Vidhan Sabha, which is accountable to people. LG sahab has no accountability. He has not been given power by the Constitution. He should not get angry with us. He can inspect our roads. Even prime minister, home minister can inspect our roads. We don’t have any objection,” the minister said.
According to Bharadwaj, the Centre was “belittling itself” by bringing up financing.
Later that day, at a DDA function, LG Saxena responded to Bharadwaj’s comments.
“I don’t want to talk about it much. However, I merely wanted to express that we will keep working. Anyone can claim credit for it if they wish to. I am content with the fact that if I am working on something and someone wants to claim credit for it, then we must be doing something well, he said.
The LG office and AAP dispensation have argued over the topic of taking credit for initiatives even in the past.
