BJP questions increase in Kejriwal’s assets; AAP says what about Verma

New Delhi: With the election affidavits laying bare the financial status of the candidates, a war of words broke out on Thursday, with BJP questioning the rise in AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal's income and AAP sharply responding by citing the manifold increase in the earnings of his New Delhi constituency rival Parvesh Verma.Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said the former CM had declared Rs 44,90,040 as his income for 2020-21, which was almost 40 times his 2019-20 earnings of Rs 1,57,823. AAP retorted that Kejriwal was a former IRS officer and three-time CM, who yet remained "simple" and "committed" to public service and did not own a personal house in Delhi or even a car. The party claimed Kejriwal held Rs 50,000 in cash and barely had Rs 3 lakh in his bank account.The party accused the BJP of "hypocrisy", pointing out that Verma's total wealth of Rs 89 crore was around 27 times Kejriwal's. "He owns luxury cars. His family's assets are worth over Rs 100 crore. His asset value increased 2,600% in five years," AAP alleged in a statement, which also demanded that BJP should reveal the sources behind this "massive surge" in Verma's wealth.At a press conference on Thursday, Sachdeva presented the details of Kejriwal's income as detailed in his election affidavit. "The people would like to know from Kejriwal about the 40-fold increase in his income in 2020-21 and a six-fold increase in 2023-24, despite declaring his MLA salary as his sole source of income," Sachdeva said.He claimed Kejriwal's income tax returns during his second term as chief minister (2015-2020) reflect his basic taxable salary as less than Rs 3.6 lakh for the year and sought a clarification from the AAP convener. In 2020-21, the former CM declared an income of Rs 44,90,040, which is almost 40 times his 2019-20 income of Rs 1,57,823, Sachdeva said. "It is surprising how Kejriwal's income increased 40-fold in 2020-21 when incomes worldwide plummeted due to the Covid pandemic," he added.