New Delhi: Opposition BJP and Congress on Monday dubbed the lunch hosted for a sanitation worker from Gujarat by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a “political stunt” and accused him of “hypocrisy” instead of taking care of Dalits living in the city.
Kejriwal is not a well-wisher of Dalits and sanitation workers, charged BJP MLA and leader of opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri.
He said even the status of Corona warrior was not extended to sanitation workers during the pandemic.
“About 82 per cent of the amount allocated for the welfare of these sanitation workers in the Delhi government budget was not spent. Now by inviting a Dalit of Gujarat to Delhi, AAP is indulging in gimmick and hypocrisy,” he charged
The Kejriwal government neither considered sanitation workers as corona warriors nor released Rs one crore rupees compensation each to those who died during different waves of the COVID-19, he alleged.
In Delhi government’s budget, Rs 433,65 crore was allocated for various schemes for SC, ST and OBC people in 2020-21. This allocation was reduced to Rs 268.52 crore out of which only over 18 per cent was spent. The expenditure on these schemes was only 32.28 crore of the allocated Rs 425.13 crore in 2021-22, he claimed.
Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar also termed the AAP convener’s move to invite a Dalit family from Gujarat for lunch at his residence a “political stunt” to “mislead the Dalit community.”.
“Many Dalit sanitation workers serving during Covid pandemic died due to the virus in Delhi but the Kejriwal government did not honour its commitment of giving Rs 1 crore compensation to the kin of the deceased,” he claimed.
“Kejriwal was playing vote-bank politics to fool the people ahead of Assembly polls in Gujarat,” he charged.
Kejriwal hosted the sanitation worker and his family from Gujarat over lunch at his residence. The family also visited a Delhi government school and a hospital.
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