Congress attacks Harsh Vardhan, questions capabilities

The Congress Tuesday tore into Delhi BJP's chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan for being trumpeted as the "pioneer" of the pulse polio programme, saying the party is "misleading" the people.

"Pulse Polio programme is funded by the central government. It was not pioneered. BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) can choose whoever as the chief ministerial candidate but they should not mislead public that he has been the best health minister in Delhi," Urban Development Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said at a press conference.

Harsh Vardhan, preferred to state unit chief Vijay Goel for chief ministerial candidate, has been credited with pioneering pulse polio scheme in Delhi.

Lovely said Harsh Vardhan should not take credit for something he has not done.

Lovely, along with two of his cabinet colleagues Haroon Yusuf and Raj Kumar Chauhan, tried to puncture BJP's claims over Harsh Vardhan and said his work was unsatisfactory.

"During his tenure, 60 people lost their lives due to dropsy and 400 died of dengue. Around 10,000 dengue cases were reported during that time," Lovely said.

The ministers drew a parallel between BJP's rule and present scenario in the party, saying not only did it have three chief ministers between 1993 and 1998, it changed three chief ministerial candidates before the 2013 Delhi assembly polls.

Lovely then compared the BJP tenure with that of Congress.

Between 1993 and 1998, Delhi had 18 hospitals but the numbers have increased to 39 under the Congress rule, he said.

He also said school dropout rate under BJP was the worst.

"It is an indication that in case BJP comes to power, it would change at least two chief ministers in an year," Lovely said.

Saying that Harsh Vardhan was handpicked by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Lovely said RSS's diktat has the final bearing in the BJP.

Lovely "prophecised" that Harsh Vardhan will meet the same fate as Uttarakhand former chief minister B.C. Khanduri, who was replaced by Ramesh Pokhriyal.