Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri
Had the ruling Aam Aadmi Party worked diligently in Delhi, it would not have been “so much willing” to firm up an alliance with the Congress, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said.
The Union minister also rejected the AAP government's claims of good work in the education sector, saying it has not opened any school since it came to power.
In an interview to PTI, Puri, who is the Housing and Urban Affairs Minister in the Modi government, sought to know the track record of the Arvind Kejriwal government in the national capital.
“They (AAP) do not have any interest in development. They have different approach... Had they worked in Delhi diligently, they would not have been so much willing to firm up an alliance with the Congress," Puri said.
On Friday, AAP leader Gopal Rai said the Aam Aadmi Party is capable of defeating both the BJP and the Congress in Delhi and an alliance is possible with the Congress only when it will be done on 33 Lok Sabha seats.
The Congress announced that it will fight the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi alone, but maintained that it is still willing to have an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party provided that the tie-up is restricted only to the national capital.
Puri also charged the Arvind Kejriwal with creating “impediments” whenever his ministry has sent any proposal, be it RRTS projects and Metro Phase-IV.
“When I become the minister, I reviewed all pending projects (of the central government) where Delhi government was supposed to pay just 10 per cent of cost and the rest would be borne by the Centre.
“There were several pending projects as Delhi government was not providing funds. I asked central agencies, including DDA, to bear that cost,” he said.
The minister charged that AAP does have intention to work on regularisation of unauthorised colonies of Delhi.
He said since the beginning, the central government wanted regularisation of unauthorised colonies and give facilities to people living there.
“The Delhi government had sought two years to do mapping of boundaries of these colonies, and we gave, but later we got to know that they did not appoint even an agency for the same. They later demanded another two years.
“They do not have intention (to regularise unauthorised colonies)...They make different statements in public and later run away,” he said.
