Delhi Congress to release 'report card' of Kejriwal

The Congress Monday said it will present a "report card" of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to highlight the failures of his government across all departments.

The Delhi unit of the party said it would release the "report card" on Tuesday. The Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party were recently in talks for an alliance for the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi but failed to make any headway.

The Congress also targeted the BJP and the AAP over the rise in prices of petrol, diesel and LPG in Delhi.

Subhash Chopra, chairman of the Delhi Pradesh Congress' Campaign Committee, said under the party's government in Delhi, petrol and diesel prices were cheaper as the VAT was lower.

"The failure of AAP government to keep the prices under control has forced Delhiites to pay more, making it costlier to live in Delhi. In 2014, under the Congress government in Delhi, VAT rates on petrol and diesel were 20 and 12.5 per cent, while under the AAP government, the VAT rose to 25 per cent on petrol and 16.6 per cent on diesel in 2015," Chopra said.

"In 2019, it is 27 per cent on petrol and 16.75 per cent on diesel," he added.

Attacking the BJP, Chopra said that between 2014 and 2018, the Centre increased the central excise duty on petrol by 126 per cent and on diesel by 330 per cent.

In 2013, the petrol cost was Rs 63.09 per litre, while it costs Rs 75.87 now, the senior Delhi Congress leader said.

The Congress also claimed that each of the 62,000 oil marketing company (OMC) petrol pumps across the country have at least two hoardings of an average size of 40ft X 10ft featuring Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The total expense for changing these hoardings monthly is approximately Rs 4,400 crore in five years which could have been utilised in development schemes for the people," Chopra added.

Meanwhile, former SDMC deputy chairman for south zone Anita Tyagi, local party Ali Sena chief M A Chand and Rakesh Raman Jha and Mohammad Shoaib, both previously associated with the AAP, joined the Congress Monday in the presence of Chopra and Delhi Congress' working president Haroon Yusuf.