AAP today hitback at the BJP-ruled three municipal corporations for publishing advertisements, appealing the Delhi government to release funds to them, saying the money spent on it should be recovered from the mayors of the three civic bodies.
"On one hand the BJP-run Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCD) say that they don't have money to give salaries and on the other they are spending money on advertisements. The mayors should be held responsible for this and the money should be recovered from them," AAP's Delhi unit convenor Dilip Pandey told a news conference.
There were advertisement in a section of media in which Mayors of the three MCDs appealed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Finance Minister Manish Sisodia to release around Rs 6,000 crore as per the recommendation of the 3rd Finance Commission.
Targeting the BJP, AAP's Delhi unit treasurer Raghav Chadha said it should ask the Centre to give money as the MCDs were yet to receive hundreds of crores under the 'Swachch Bharat Abhiyan' initiative.
"The Delhi Development Authority has to pay thousands of crores to MCDs, the Centre has to pay several hundred crores to the MCDs under the 'Swachch Bharat Abhiyan' initiative. But still they are targeting the BJP. The Centre is not sharing any kind of taxes with the civic bodies.
"In fact, the Delhi government has released bigger amount, which was not even released during the Centre's rule (President's rule)," Chadha said.
Meanwhile, SDMC Mayor Subhash Arya said he was not inclined to reply to AAP's query on money spent on advertisements.
"I am not inclined to reply their question on money spent on the advertisement. What is wrong in the advertisements. When the AAP government can level allegations against MCDs and Central Government through its advertisements by spending public money, why can't we give advertisements," he said.
Refusing to disclose the source of money spent on the advertisements, Arya said "let them ask us, we will give them a reply at a suitable time.
