New Delhi, Jul 30 (PTI) The Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday alleged that the Rekha Gupta government spent money only to make Minto Bridge flood-free, while the rest of Delhi was submerged in the rainwater.
AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj mocked the BJP, calling Minto Bridge a “separate state” with its own Chief Minister and PWD Minister, while the BJP hit back saying the area was no longer synonymous with flooding.
“Rekha Gupta is the CM of Minto Bridge and Parvesh Verma is its PWD Minister,” said Bharadwaj in a jibe during a press conference.
“Earlier it was just a joke. But now it is official — the BJP has turned Minto Bridge into a separate republic. Even barricades had to be put up on Tuesday due to waterlogging. I posted on X: ‘All visas to Minto Bridge now cancelled.'” Bharadwaj asked how Connaught Place, Sadar Bazaar, and several arterial roads across Delhi got submerged, despite crores being spent on desilting by multiple civic agencies.
“If the BJP government focused less on saving Minto Bridge and more on the rest of Delhi, we wouldn’t be drowning. What was tampered with in Connaught Place?” he asked, demanding a probe into possible mismanagement and calling for the release of the court-mandated desilting audit.
In response, BJP Delhi President Virendra Sachdeva said that it was the Kejriwal government that failed to submit the desilting audit report by the June 30, 2024 deadline, as mandated by the high court.
“The audit was ordered in a 2018 case about scams during AAP’s tenure. Bharadwaj, being a minister then, must explain why nothing was done,” he said.
Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor also dismissed the allegations as political theatrics.
“Under the Kejriwal government, traffic under Minto Bridge used to be shut for 2–3 days every year. This year, traffic moved normally. There was no full-day closure, and no accidents,” he said.
He said Bharadwaj’s claim on social media about flooding at Minto Bridge was false, and posted a video to counter it. PTI MHS VN VN
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