New Delhi [India], August 7 : Hitting out at the previous Aam Aadmi Party Delhi government, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday said that Arvind Kejriwal-led government always pretended that they were paying for the "freebies" without thinking about the financial health of the national capital.
Addressing Vidhan Sabha over the discussion on the CAG report, CM Gupta said, "I knew that when the CAG report would be discussed, either the opposition would walk out or they would blame the Centre. Who told them to overextend beyond their means? Who asked them to implement free electricity, free water, and free bus rides? All of this was done just to win an election. They pretended as if they were paying from their own pockets, while in reality, they were just shifting money from one pocket of the public to another."
Rekha Gupta alleged that the previous AAP government spent money only on advertisements and new schemes were only announced just to increase expenditure.
"No schools were built, no sewer lines, no roads--nothing. All the tax money went into revenue expenditure. No capital expenditure was made. What was once a revenue surplus turned into a fiscal deficit. In 2023-24, there was a loss of ₹8,600 crore. Not a single asset was created through capital expenditure. 24 hospitals were announced, but none of them are fully functional to date. There has been a 40 per cent decline in PWD works. Delhi's development has been brought to a halt. Massive spending was done on advertisements. New schemes were launched just to increase expenditure," Gupta further said.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Atishi alleged that the Union government is responsible for the financial deficit shown in the CAG report.
"If people in power give political speeches then it is fine, but if we speak politically then it is wrong... The BJP central government is responsible for the deficit finances being shown in the name of CAG report. Delhi does not get a share in taxes. Delhi's income tax has increased," Atishi said.