A new faceoff began between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party and Opposition BJP in Delhi over the beautification of the national capital in the wake of the G20 Summit scheduled in the city next month.
Both had earlier engaged in a credit war in which both sides had claimed to have worked on the beautification of the city ahead of the mega-international event in which several world leaders including US President Joe Biden will participate.
In the latest faceoff between both parties on Thursday (August 31), BJP leader Charu Pragya shared a clip of the beautification work in the Palam Industrial Area where a ‘Shivling’ shaped fountain was installed with running water.
Attacking the Aam Aadmi Party for the same, Pragya yesterday alleged that the work of the installation of Shivling-shaped fountains was done by the Arvind Kejriwal-led ruling party.
“A Shivling is not for decoration. And Dhaula Kuan is not Gyanvapi. AAP Govt in Delhi has installed Shivling-shaped fountains at Dhaula Kuan,” the BJP leader tweeted.
AAP hits back
Reacting to the development, AAP MP Sanjay Singh on Thursday claimed that the BJP “insulted” the Shivling and demanded to take action on LG VK Saxena.
“Shivling was insulted under the leadership of Modi ji and shameless BJP people are praising Modi. The LG of Delhi is looting accolades by disrespecting Shivling. BJP should apologize to the country, take action on LG,” Singh tweeted.
Notably, in the video shared by the BJP on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle, the visuals of the Shivling-shaped fountain installed at Palam Industrial Area were included at 3.52 minutes.
The BJP had captioned the X post as “Delhi is being beautified under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi”.
Screengrab of BJP's post on X
War of words between AAP and BJP over Delhi makeover
The BJP and AAP engaged in a war of words over the makeover of New Delhi for the G20 Summit scheduled to be held in the city next month with the Opposition party alleging that the Arvind Kejriwal-led government was attempting to “steal credit” for the work done by the Centre ahead of the mega event.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) retorted expressing its shock that the “BJP had to pass the developmental work done by the city government as its own”.
Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva claimed on Sunday that even the wall painting concept was brought in by the Centre first in the Pragati Maidan tunnel and later in the NDMC area.
The AAP, on the other hand, accused the BJP of playing dirty politics when the country will host the G20 Summit.
"All money on PWD roads was spent by the PWD of Delhi government and all money on the MCD roads was spent by the MCD. The central government has only spent money wherever NDMC and NHAI roads stand. This level of politics is not going to help the country. We are about to host the G20 Summit where India is leading the charge, but the only thing BJP cares about is playing dirty politics," the party said.
