New Delhi: The BJP boycotted the all-party meeting called by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday to discuss the issue of rising water bills in Delhi. However, the Congress, represented by the President of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, Arvinder Singh Lovely, extended unwavering support to the proposed measures.
During the meeting, Delhi government ministers shed light on the intricacies of the ‘One Time Settlement Scheme’ for Inflated Water Bills. The CM said that the absence of the BJP in the meeting indicated their opposition to the scheme, whereas it would waive the bills of 90 percent of the people upon its implementation.
“We should expose the BJP in front of the people of Delhi because they are engaging in very dirty politics. If the BJP has any suggestions, we will consider them,” the CM said.
Arvind Kejriwal further elaborated on the scheme, stating, “Our assessment is that with the implementation of the ‘One-Time Settlement Scheme’, water bills of nearly 90 percent of the people will be waived. However, the Delhi government will have to provide subsidy money to the Delhi Jal Board. After this, revenue will come to the Delhi Jal Board. Since the issues related to services are under the central government, there is pressure on the officers.”
He added, “Some officers have approached us and said that they are being threatened and they may lose their jobs. So, now we have to take this issue to the people and mobilise them. This is a very big issue. People are queuing outside the offices of MLAs from morning till evening every day.”
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After the all-party meeting, Delhi’s Urban Development Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the Delhi Jal Board and the Delhi government want to introduce a policy to tackle rising water bills in Delhi.
“We have also discussed this policy with LG Sahab and raised the matter in the Delhi Legislative Assembly. A resolution has also been passed in the assembly. Despite this, the ‘One-Time Settlement Scheme’ has not yet come to the cabinet,” Bharadwaj said.
He added, “Because this is a big issue related to the people of Delhi, therefore, a decision was taken a few days ago to hold an all-party meeting so that major political parties could discuss and deliberate on this public interest issue beyond their party lines.”
Bharadwaj added from the BJP, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri was invited to the all-party meeting. He was told to bring any fellow MLA with him. In addition, the President of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee was also invited who attended the all-party meeting.
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Meanwhile, Lovely said, “Regarding Delhi’s water bills, we received an invitation for the all-party meeting from the Chief Minister’s side. As a responsible political party, Congress participated in this meeting. I believe that in the matter of providing relief to the people of Delhi, no political party should show any weakness or reluctance fundamentally.”
Lovely added, “It is unfortunate that the BJP, which always talks about Delhi and the country, avoided the all-party meeting that called for such a big issue. We could have reached some conclusions based on logical discussion in the meeting, but the BJP avoided it.”
Lovely further said, “We have said before that whether the government belongs to any party, whether it is BJP, Congress, or Aam Aadmi Party, we do not agree at all with the idea of weakening any institution.”
