News Nine | Day before Delhi MCD polls, Anurag Thakur says Arvind Kejriwal following 'loot model' of Lalu Yadav

Dec 03,2022

A day ahead of the Delhi MCD polls, the BJP has stepped up its attack on the Aam Aadmi Party. Union minister and senior BJP leader Anurag Thakur accused the Delhi government of being involved in scams related to liquor policy, education, DTC buses and labour rights. In a dig at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and RJD founder Lalu Prasad Yadav, Thakur said Kejriwal was following the latter's "loot model", news agency ANI reported.

"AAP government is involved in liquor, education, DTC bus scams, and has even deprived labourers of their rights," Thakur said "Earlier, we saw chaara ghotala (fodder scam), now, there is a government, whose name is involved in not one but several corruptions. Arvind Kejriwal has presented a new model of corruption. Lalu Prasad Yadav's 'loot' model is being followed by Kejriwal in Delhi," the Minister for Information and Broadcasting said in a press conference on Saturday. 

"He has even left behind Lalu ji," Thakur added. Thakur directed new allegations of corruption at the AAP government in Delhi accusing it of "misallocating" funds meant for labourers into "fake" accounts. "If we look at the documents, it is very clear that they have allocated fake jobs to fake people with fake mobile numbers, some of them being traced in even Haryana and Andhra Pradesh. So, the money that was to be given to the labours, was given to Arvind Kejriwal and his 'friends'. They have robbed the labourers of their rights," the union minister was quoted as saying by ANI. Thakur also said the AAP was a "party of liars" and is full "full of frauds", the news agency reported. "The corrupt Aam Adami party has many frauds, from the health minister who is in jail to the education minister trapped in liquor swindle; it is the party of liars," Thakur said. 

The campaign for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls saw BJP leaders dub Kejriwal "kattar beiman" (hardcore corrupt). The BJP has ruled the MCD since 2007 and is seeking a fourth term. During its 15-year tenure, the civic body was trifurcated into NDMC, SDMC, and EDMC (2012-2022), and reunified earlier this year. This will be the first municipal election in the national capital after the delimitation of wards. Both the BJP and the AAP have fielded 250 candidates, while the Congress is contesting only 247 seats. Over the past few weeks, many Union ministers and chief ministers of several BJP-ruled states like Hardeep Singh Puri, Piyush Goyal, Manohar Lal Khattar and Pushkar Singh Dhami campaigned for the party candidates and targeted the AAP, with Kejriwal often in their crosshairs. Voting for the Delhi MCD polls will take place on Sunday and the counting of votes for the MCD elections will take place on December 7.