Odd-even scheme will fail, AAP looking for escape route: BJP

Meenakshi Lekhi accused AAP of following the strategy of blaming the centre without putting in efforts

A day before the odd-even formula is rolled out in the national capital, BJP today said the "faulted" exercise was "bound to fail".

The party also slammed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his attacks on the Centre, saying he was looking for an "escape route" to shift the blame.

It alleged Kejriwal was always looking for conflict to keep the attention away from his failure in providing good governance and said it did not have "right intentions".

At a press conference, party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi accused Aam Aadmi Party of following the strategy of blaming the centre without putting in efforts.

"This exercise is a faulted exercise. It is bound to fail. They are looking for an escape route and there is nothing better than putting the onus on the central government... If you really want to deal with pollution there are better ways to deal with it.

"There are preparing ground to blame the Centre for their failure. Right intentions and motivations do not exist. They are constantly trying to harm the cause of governance," she said, attacking the AAP government.

Her comments came after Kejriwal said DANICS and IAS associations in Delhi had become "full-fledged B teams of BJP" and accused Modi of "firing" at the AAP government through the Lt Governor and the officers.

Almost all senior bureaucrats of the Delhi Government went on mass leave protesting suspension of two officials, an action declared void by the Centre.

Lekhi said the matter over which the two officials were suspended was referred by the LG to the President as she defended their decision to not sign the relevant file following which the AAP government suspended them.

AAP wants "areas of conflict" so that it is reported and it could claim that the Centre did not let it work, Lekhi, MP from New Delhi constituency said.

Criticising the odd-even formula, she said it would put only six per cent of vehicles off roads and claimed that the AAP government had chosen a convenient time frame to roll it out as during Jan 1-15 schools are closed. It is also not a time for wedding, she said.

She said infrastructure development and better traffic management were ways to deal with pollution and cited the highway project launched by the Centre today in this regard.

The Centre, Lekhi said, had given an additional fund of Rs 1200 crore to the Delhi government for sewage treatment but nothing has been done so far. AAP has also done nothing on its promise of 'swaraj', she said, noting that adequate funds were not being given to local bodies.

Instead the AAP government was using Delhi's resources for political purposes, she said, referring to its publicity budget of Rs 526 crore.