Punjab's SAD terms Khattar-Kejriwal meeting over Delhi pollution a flop show, slams AAP chief
The Shiromani Akali Dal termed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's visit to Chandigarh a sinister media stunt staged with the sole purpose of befooling the people of Delhi, Punjab and the rest of the country.
In Short
- Khattar-Kejriwal meeting over Delhi pollution a flop show: SAD
- AAP chief in habit of inventing make-belief solutions to problems: SAD
- Kejriwal indulging in cheap publicity: SAD
The political bickering between the leaderships of three states - Punjab, Haryana and Delhi - over pollution intensified on Wednesday.
The Shiromani Akali Dal termed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's visit to Chandigarh a sinister media stunt staged with the sole purpose of fooling the people of Delhi, Punjab and the rest of the country.
The SAD said the visit was a flop show as it did not yield anything. Earlier in the day, Kejriwal held parleys with Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar over pollution in Delhi.
SAD leader Parminder Singh Dhindsa said the AAP chief was in the habit of inventing a make-belief solution to the problems faced by people of Delhi.
"Last year, he came up with the odd-even scheme and spent crore (sic) of rupees on a media blitz to take political mileage of the same. This year, he has come up with the idea of meeting the chief ministers of Haryana and Punjab with the sole purpose of flogging these meetings as an achievement," he said.
"All Kejriwal could say after meeting his Haryana counterpart was that concern had been expressed. Kejriwal could have expressed this on the phone, but chose to indulge in cheap publicity even though he knew the talks would not have any outcome," he said.
Dhindsa said stubble burning alone was not responsible for the smog situation in Delhi. "The truth is that Kejriwal has failed to check vehicular pollution, and is now trying to blame the farmers of Punjab and Haryana . If the Delhi CM is serious, he should provide financial assistance to the neighbouring states to tackle stubble burning."
Agriculture equipment and establishment of bio-mass plants can provide a lasting solution to utilise paddy straw, he said.
Meanwhile, Kejriwal met Khattar at Chandigarh and the latter, reportedly, said, "Let's not politicise this issue. It relates to the capital of the country and it's everyone's responsibility to give fresh air to our kids."
Khattar gave Kejriwal a presentation on how the Haryana government reduced stubble burning by 40 per cent. Also, details of the latest agricultural management equipment and technologies were detailed out to Kejriwal.
Khattar said, "We have sought a sum of Rs 1,600 crore from the Centre to subsidise equipments to farmers." The Delhi CM also raised the issue of dirty Yamuna water coming from Haryana.