New Delhi: Even as Parliament cleared the Bill to reunify the Capital's civic bodies with a voice vote in Rajya Sabha amid stiff opposition, the Aam Aadmi Party took aim at the BJP — saying that it was the Union government that was being "step-motherly" with Delhi's civic bodies and not the Delhi government.
Home Minister Amit Shah repeatedly claimed that the North, South and East MCDs were in financial ruin because of alleged partial treatment at the hands of the Delhi government. But AAP leader and MLA Atishi on Tuesday said, "I would like to ask our nation's Home Minister, is it the Delhi Government that is partial against the 3 MCDs or the Centre which is behaving with utmost ignorance and otherness with these civic bodies?"
The AAP said that the 14th Finance Commission had mandated that the Union government allocate Rs 488 per person for Urban and Rural Local Bodies but that despite this, the Union was allegedly singling out Delhi civic bodies and purportedly not sending these funds.
"Despite this, they have the audacity of accusing the Delhi government... since 2015, we've repeatedly issued loans to all three municipal bodies... and they now owe the Delhi government over Rs 5,800 crore put together," Atishi said.