People want clean air, not excuses: Rahul slams BJP over Delhi pollution

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday raised concern over the worsening air quality in the national capital, saying with both the Centre and Delhi under BJP rule, people expect clean air instead of excuses.

In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said Delhi's air is becoming "increasingly poisonous", but the BJP governments keep changing their excuses.

"Year after year, Delhi's air is becoming increasingly poisonous, but BJP governments just keep changing their excuses. Now, both at the Centre and in Delhi, it's their own government in power. No excuses now, the public wants clean air," he said in his post.

Gandhi shared an over eight-minute video in which he is seen discussing the issue of air pollution with an environmentalist near the India Gate complex here early in the morning.

Gandhi is heard saying in the video, "I have been having breathing issues and my eyes are burning. The last week has been terrible."

He remarked that while the damage caused by air pollution continues throughout the year, people tend to realise its effects only during this period.

Gandhi mentioned that he had considered shifting his mother -- former Congress president Sonia Gandhi -- out of Delhi during this period due to the rising levels of air pollution.

He also sought to know the primary reason for the rising pollution levels in Delhi and whether only farmers and vehicular pollution were to be blamed for the crisis.