Delhi rains AAP slams Rekha Gupta govt over waterlogging minister hits back with 'loot' barb

New Delhi, Aug 14 (PTI) Alleging national capital’s roads have turned into "pools" following heavy rain on Thursday, the AAP lambasted the BJP government over severe waterlogging and termed the deaths in rain-related incidents as "murders".
     The opposition party's criticism has sparked a war of words between the ruling BJP and AAP, which was in power in the city for over 10 years until February.
    BJP, when it was in the opposition in Delhi, used to attack the Arvind Kejriwal government over the issue of waterlogging, which had become a recurring phenomenon in recent years during the monsoon.
     While AAP leaders, including former chief minister Atishi, shared visuals of inundated Delhi streets, slamming the government for "lack of preparedness" for the monsoon, Delhi minister Kapil Mishra blamed the AAP for its "12-year loot".
     In a letter to Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Atishi demanded that PWD minister Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma be dismissed from the cabinet over a tree-falling incident in Kalkaji in which a man was killed and his daughter was seriously injured.
     Verma must take moral responsibility, she said.
     Sharing a video posted by an X user on the Kalkaji incident, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal said, "What condition the BJP people have brought Delhi to in just a few months."
     Hitting back, Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra on X said, "Shameless, indeed! You looted and ruined Delhi for 12 years, then ran off to Punjab, and now, you're blaming the BJP over a fallen tree?
     "Delhi will definitely change, but this shamelessness of dancing around with the report card of its own failure is only possible in AAP!" Mishra said in a post in Hindi.
     Atishi, in her letter to CM Gupta, highlighted multiple incidents that have happened during this monsoon season.
     "Many more people have lost their lives in this year's rains -- each a preventable tragedy had there been foresight, infrastructure readiness and decisive governance. Instead, Delhi's citizens are forced to wade through waterlogged streets, navigate collapsing trees, and live in constant fear during every spell of rain," said the leader of the opposition in Delhi.
     In multiple posts on X, Atishi shared videos of flooded roads and slammed the BJP's "four-engine" government — a reference to the MCD, the governments in Delhi and Centre, as well as the Lieutenant Governor.
     Following the deaths of two boys in southwest Delhi's Vasant Vihar after a wall collapsed on them, Atishi called such incidents "murders".
     "These are not deaths, they are murders. The mismanagement of the BJP’s four-engine government is claiming the lives of Delhi’s residents.
     "Trees are falling in some places, walls in others, and people are falling into open pits. As soon as it rains, Delhi drowns, but their claims float only on paper," she said on X in Hindi as she questioned whether the lives of the common people have no value for the BJP.
     Sharing a video of Chhattarpur in which cars were passing through a waterlogged stretch, Atishi said, "This is the condition of Chhatarpur. In just a short spell of rain, Delhi's roads turn into ponds."
     She also shared videos of Patparganj, Subroto Park and Lutyens' Delhi to highlight the impact of the incessant rain on the capital's infrastructure.
     AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha alleged that this year, more than two dozen people have lost their lives due to the rains and, at a press conference, charged that "BJP leaders and ministers are busy making reels every day, but no real work is being done."
     Reacting to Atishi's letter to the chief minister, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva accused AAP leaders of politicising sensitive issues, such as deaths due to rain-related incidents.
     Sachdeva said that even a single death due to waterlogging or a tree or wall collapse in Delhi is deeply unfortunate, and the BJP government treats such incidents with seriousness and sensitivity.
     "AAP leaders were insensitive while in power, and now that they are in the opposition, they have become experts in petty and insensitive politics," he added.
     Sachdeva claimed that Atishi offered no condolences last year when nearly 50 people, including three civil service aspirants, died in similar incidents during AAP’s tenure.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)