Don’t celebrate yet, case will go to Delhi HC, says CM Rekha Gupta; targets Arvind Kejriwal over liquor policy row

NEW DELHI: Chief minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday hit out at Arvind Kejriwal, saying that "those shouting in his defence should understand that the pot of deceit will not be put on the stove again in Delhi".

Addressing a public gathering in Chandni Chowk, she said the AAP chief is "guilty in the eyes of Delhi's people" and will "never be forgiven".


She asserted that he should not celebrate his acquittal in the liquor policy case as the matter will now go to Delhi High Court. Instead, Kejriwal will have to answer for what she claimed were a series of scams involving classrooms in govt schools, fake labour bills, Delhi Jal Board, ED-related cases and "Sheesh Mahal".

Sharpening her attack on Kejriwal, Gupta said he may continue to defend himself, but he would have to face legal scrutiny and answer all the allegations against him.

For the past 27 years, BJP had worked to safeguard Delhi and protested on the streets whenever the former govts acted against the city's interests, the CM said. Referring to governance under the previous AAP dispensation, she said schemes were launched without clarity on their ground-level implementation. She cited the Ladli Scheme as an example, alleging that its benefits did not reach 1.75 lakh girls.

She said her govt identified the beneficiaries and transferred Rs 90 crore via direct benefit transfer to 30,000 girls, and is set to transfer another Rs 100 crore to 40,000 more. The Ladli Scheme, she said, was replaced with Lakhpati Beti Yojana, under which each girl will receive Rs 1.25 lakh for education support.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said despite getting the chance to govern Delhi for 11 years and now Punjab for the past three and a half years, AAP delivered "zero development" in both places. "Yet they (AAP functionaries) do not speak about that; instead, they want to question the one-year-old BJP govt in Delhi. Even after being repeatedly rejected (by people) in Gujarat and Goa, AAP seeks answers from BJP govts there," Sachdeva said, adding that Kejriwal keeps on blaming BJP for issues, including Israel and America.

In contrast, the Delhi BJP govt's one-year tenure has been characterised by change and development, Sachdeva said, adding that CM Gupta set a unique example by presenting her govt's report card before the public in all seven parliamentary constituencies within seven days.

He said through Public Works Department, DJB, flood control department and transport department, the Rekha Gupta govt has initiated development work worth thousands of crores. Additionally, Rs 100 crore has been allocated as a separate fund to each assembly constituency, providing public representatives with new opportunities for development, he added.

Nearly Rs 1 lakh crore worth of new schemes have now been taken up, he said, detailing projects involving a sewage master plan, new sewage treatment plants, steps to clean the Yamuna, improved roads, new buses and public-oriented house tax and DJB schemes, Sachdeva added.