‘Gundagardi’: AAP vs BJP in Delhi, Kejriwal Claims Centre Obstructing Budget Presentation | News18 Chaupal

A fresh tussle seems to have erupted between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government, as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday alleged that the Center had denied the presentation. has stopped. The Delhi government’s budget was presented in the assembly on Tuesday. Climbing the dais at the News 18 India Choupal programme, Kejriwal accused the central government of committing ‘gundagardi’.

“The budget will not be presented in Delhi tomorrow. This has happened for the first time in the history of India that the budget of the Delhi government was to be presented yesterday and this evening the central government has put a stop to it.

Further targeting the BJP, Kejriwal said, ‘We built a wonderful government school in Rohini, but BJP members were standing with black flags and asking why I was inaugurating the school. They feel proud when the children of rickshaw pullers and laborers get education in such a school.”

He said that the decision of the Ministry of Home Affairs not to approve the budget will affect the salaries of Delhi government employees. “Delhi government employees, including doctors and teachers, will not get their salaries on time,” he said.

Newly appointed cabinet minister Kailash Gehlot, who was appointed Finance Minister in place of Manish Sisodia in Delhi, was scheduled to present the budget at 11 am on Tuesday. There were indications that new mohalla clinics and hospitals could be part of the state government’s draft budget.

In light of Kejriwal’s claims, the Home Ministry, however, said that it has not put a hold on the budget, but only sought clarification from the Delhi government, which is yet to be received. A senior official said, “The draft budget presented had more allocation for advertisement than for infrastructure and hence we sought an explanation which has not come so far.”

Explaining the timeline of the tug-of-war between the Center and Delhi over budget approval, Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena’s office said the LG had approved the Annual Financial Statement 2023-2024 on March 9. However, some observations were made and a file was filed. Kejriwal was sent, LG Saxena’s office said in a statement.

LG Saxena’s office further claimed that the MHA had also conveyed its comments on March 17, “As per the law, we sent a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs seeking President’s approval. The Lt Governor’s office is still waiting for Kejriwal to send the file.”

LG Saxena argued that while the communication seeking clarification was sent to the AAP-led government four days before the budget was presented, it was the Delhi government which did not respond in time, leading to the present crisis.

However, Kailash Gehlot claimed that the Chief Secretary of Delhi hid the letter for 3 days, and he came to know about it only on Monday. The file containing the Home Ministry’s letter was officially presented to me at 6 pm today, just a day before the presentation of the budget in the Delhi Assembly. Following this, we have responded to the concerns of the MHA and handed over the file back to the LG of Delhi at 9 pm after the approval of the CM, Gehlot said in a statement.

Gehlot has demanded an inquiry into the role of Delhi Chief Secretary and Finance Secretary in delaying Delhi’s budget. It is also unfortunate that the Home Ministry is spreading lies about the Delhi government’s budget, he said.

He also termed the MHA’s concerns about Delhi’s budget allocation as “irrelevant” and said, “Around Rs 22,000 crore has been allocated for capital expenditure next year, while the allocation for advertisements is only Rs 550 crore, which is the same as last year.” is similar to.

Notably, LG Saxena recently ordered the Aam Aadmi Party to pay Rs 97 crore for state government advertisements that were allegedly used for the party’s propaganda five years ago.

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