AAP flays Centre for 'hijacking' its work on ITO Skywalk

Delhi's ruling AAP flayed the Centre for "hijacking its work" on Sunday after reports suggested that no Delhi government Minister has been invited for the inauguration of the Skywalk at ITO.

The invite sent out by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has the names of Lt Governor Anil Baijal and Bharatiya Janata Party leader and MP Meenakshi Lekhi but no names of any Minister or MLA from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri is set to inaugurate the skywalk on Monday.

AAP's chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj, in a statement, called Puri and Baijal "retired bureaucrats" and Lekhi an "absentee MP" who follow the diktat of the BJP government.

"It has been learnt from media reports that the unique SkyWalk is now ready for public use and it will be inaugurated by two retired bureaucrats and an absentee MP, following the diktat of the BJP's central government," Bharadwaj said.

"The two retired bureaucrats and the absentee MP will do well to study the unique SkyWalk design properly and copy it for other locations in Delhi and elsewhere, since the central government clearly lacks professional expertise to execute such projects," said Bharadwaj.

Bharadwaj said this was just another way of the BJP to "settle scores" with the AAP for its defeat in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections.

"The two retired bureaucrats who are very fond of cutting ribbons and getting their photographs clicked to claim credit for others' hard work belong to a party which is settling scores with the people of Delhi for giving their party a humiliating defeat in 2015."

The skywalk, constructed by the Public Works Department (PWD) of the Delhi government, has been designed to ease pedestrian movement along Mathura Road, Tilak Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and Sikandra Road.

--IANS

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