AAP to hold protest today
New Delhi: The AAP on Thursday said it will hold a protest against the Central government on Friday against alleged wastage of taxpayers’ money for the construction of a new official residence for the “country’s ruler”.
Addressing a press conference, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi without naming him and said prices of items like milk and fuel have risen during the “reign of the king” and people are queuing up for “udhaar cards” instead of Aadhaar cards.
The AAP’s announcement came on a day when the BJP staged a protest outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence, alleging Rs 45 crore were spent on the renovation of the “palatial bungalow”.
The AAP will hold a massive protest on Friday to raise its voice against the “luxurious lifestyle of the country’s ruler” that is being funded by the hard-earned monies of the country’s taxpayers, Chadha said.
Referring to the construction of a new official residence for the prime minister, the AAP leader said the “palace” probably costs more than what Mughal emperor Shah Jahan would have spent for building the Taj Mahal.
It is estimated that over Rs 1,300 crore of the taxpayers’ money would be spent for the construction of this “palace for the king”, he alleged.
A new prime minister’s residence, among other things, is being constructed as part of the Central Vista Avenue redevelopment project. When the “king” recently travelled to Karnataka for the inauguration of an IIT, Chadha charged, it cost the government exchequer Rs 10 crore for an hour-long event.
“When this king travels the world on the taxpayers’ money, he uses a private aircraft that costs the citizens of the country Rs 8,400 crore. When this king travelled the world on the taxpayers’ money in the last couple of months, it cost his government Rs 1,500 crore,” he claimed.
When generic repair work was to be done at the official residence of this “king” for its beautification, it cost the government exchequer Rs 90 crore, he claimed. Chadha further said inflation has risen under the “reign of the king” and prices of items like milk, petrol and LPG cylinder have gone up.
He has pushed the nation into a “state of doom to such an extent that people are queuing up for udhaar cards instead of Aadhaar cards”. This king is afraid of the “chief of a small province of the kingdom”, Chadha said without naming anyone.
