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With the support of 67 MLAs, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s first vote on account would have passed off without much hitches. But BJP leader in the House Vijender Gupta turned the tables on the AAP government, when he highlighted the financial crisis faced by the three municipal corporations in the city on account of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s refusal to bail them out. “One-and-a-half lakh employees haven’t been paid their salaries,” said the BJP leader.
Hitting back at Gupta, Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister Manish Sisodia urged the BJP MLA to remind the Central government to comply with the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission and grant Delhi a greater share in Central taxes. “Delhi’s share has been frozen at Rs 325 crore since 2001, we are not even given that which has been recommended by the Finance Commission,” he said.
Sisodia said, “Hopes of Delhiites have been belied; they voted in favour of the BJP in all seven seats in Delhi. But the state did not get additional share of central taxes, while the share of Haryana and Punjab has been doubled.”
The BJP-AAP standoff showed no signs of abating, even as the municipal corporations headed by the BJP are reeling under severe financial crisis. The Delhi government itself facing a revenue deficit of Rs 4,350 crore. The three mayors had met the chief minister, Gupta said, but were left disappointed. Pinning the blame on the erstwhile Sheila Dikshit-led Congress government for “its criminal breach of trust” in trifurcating the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in a haste, Gupta hinted at a collusion between the former AAP and Congress governments, but he outshouted by the AAP members.
Even as the AAP and BJP trade charges, the crisis in the capital looms large with the North and East municipal corporations not having been able to pay their staff salaries for past two months and sanitation and garbage removal workers threatening to go on strike. The South Corporation which has affluent colonies under its jurisdiction has managed to eke out a surplus but that, too, is little consolation.
CM Kejriwal who has been reviewing the financial situation of the corporations has advised them to go for better financial planning and has declined them any additional help. In fact, North Corporation has formally moved a proposal to unify the three corporations.
Meanwhile, Sisodia justified the AAP government’s delivery of its poll promises of power and water subsidy, as the “Budget finances belonged to the tax paying public”. So it was rightful that the power subsidy would benefit 90 per cent of domestic consumers and the water subsidy benefit 50 per cent of the public, said Sisodia. He said his government had left a surplus of about Rs 1,000 crore but was facing a shortfall of Rs 4,350 crore. The subsidies would cost the exchequer about Rs 1,800 crore.
Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken, accompanied by former minister Yoganand Shastri, came as a visitor to witness the Budget proceedings.
