‘Pollution, women’s aid’: AAP highlights BJP’s unmet promises

Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia on Friday tore into the Delhi government for not fulfilling several key promises, including pollution control and regulating fee hikes in private schools, prompting a rebuttal from the ruling party.

Addressing a press conference, Mr. Sisodia alleged that the Rekha Gupta-led government had betrayed Delhi residents by leaving several commitments unfulfilled. “A year ago on this day, the BJP government came to power. We are not saying that everything should have changed in one year. But we are here to expose the fraud of the Rekha Gupta-led government in Delhi,” he said.

Among the “unfulfilled” promises, the former Deputy Chief Minister highlighted the pledge of ₹2,100 monthly assistance for women. “This was supposed to be ‘Modiji’s guarantee’… 2025 has ended, but the women have not received anything. This was a fraud on Delhi’s women,” he said as the government highlighted its achievements in the past year.

‘Crocodile tears’

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva dismissed the allegations, saying the Congress and AAP had left governance systems “crippled” over the past three decades. He said the Delhi residents were “shocked” to see Mr. Sisodia addressing a press conference and “shedding crocodile tears” now and wanted to know why he was silent over the past year.

Mr. Sisodia also criticised the government’s handling of pollution, claiming that Delhi recorded its worst air quality index this year. He said monitoring centres were either shut down or relocated to greener areas to reflect lower pollution levels. “When that did not work, water was sprinkled in and around the centres to lower the pollution levels,” he said.

The former Deputy Chief Minister said private school fees had risen sharply. While the BJP brought in a law to regulate fee hikes, no school has been directed to reduce fees or penalised under the law, he said. “Students who could not pay fees were not given their admit cards,” he claimed. He also alleged that bus marshals and Mohalla Clinic staff, including nurses, doctors and paramedics, had lost their jobs, terming the BJP administration a “berozgaar karne wali sarkar (a government that takes away jobs)”.

Mr. Sachdeva hit back, citing the setting up of over 100 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs offering primary health care, the rollout of 1,000 electric buses, and claimed that waterlogging was under check.