Diwali marks the traditional start of smog season in Delhi, and with it comes the expected political clash between the ruling AAP and the opposition BJP. The sharp decline in air quality in the national capital overnight has given both the parties an opportunity to attack each other.
AAP alleges BJP failed in pollution control
Regarding the deterioration in air quality, AAP immediately accused the BJP government of failing to control pollution. There are two main points at the heart of your allegations. AAP has alleged that the government is hiding the actual pollution figures. The party also alleged that the government had failed to stop the sale of illegal firecrackers.
Dense and ‘severe’ level dangerous smoke has been engulfing New Delhi since the morning the next day of Diwali. For AAP, this is a big political opportunity, especially after it faced severe criticism earlier this year over its failure to tackle smog and Yamuna pollution.
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BJP’s counterattack, allegation of ‘defaming Diwali’
BJP has hit back sharply on AAP’s allegations, with Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa accusing AAP of defaming Diwali and Hindu religion. Attacking AAP, Sirsa said, ‘Their aim is to defame Diwali. Who are those religious people who are forcing him to make this statement? Why would any common man speak against any religion?
SP also targeted
Sirsa also targeted the Samajwadi Party and accused it of standing with AAP and being ‘anti-Diwali’. He made controversial remarks citing an alleged statement of SP leader Akhilesh Yadav. He said, ‘Akhilesh ji also has only one objective to gather votes, that is to drive out Hindus… What did he say? Christmas should be celebrated like Diwali.
Sirsa objected to how anyone could talk about celebrating Diwali like Christmas. He said, ‘How can you say that Diwali should be celebrated like that? How can you say that lamps should not be lit during Diwali? Shouldn’t worship be done during Diwali? Should all Christian methods be adopted?’
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Government-opposition clash on smog crisis
Rejecting AAP’s allegations, Sirsa also raised questions on the solution to pollution. He pointed fingers at AAP’s ten-year rule and asked that when they could not solve the smoke problem in their decade-long rule, how can BJP be expected to solve it in a few months?
He said, ‘If those who have been running it (the government) for ten years are raising questions today, then a case should be registered against them and put in jail. You have been running it for ten years. You left the problem and went away. We didn’t bring it with us.
On pollution control efforts, Sirsa claimed that the pollution data is in place and the real thing affecting AQI is the efforts to remove dust from the roads. On the question of ‘cloud seeding’ (artificial rain) raised by you, he said that for this, first there should be clouds in the sky, only then it can be seeded.