New Delhi
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Thursday attacked the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, accusing it of deliberately neglecting developmental work in Delhi and focusing solely on “publicity and propaganda” during its tenure.
She was speaking during a discussion on the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India’s report titled ‘State Finances for the year 2023-24’, which was tabled in the Assembly on Monday.
Citing serious concerns flagged by the report, including a significant 55.3% decline in revenue surplus from ₹14,457 crore in 2022-23 to ₹6,462 crore in 2023-24, Ms. Gupta urged Speaker Vijender Gupta to refer the report to the Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) for a comprehensive investigation. “People must know how their money was actually spent,” Ms. Gupta said.
People misled
The Chief Minister alleged that the AAP government “misled the public” by showcasing free schemes as if they were being funded from their own pockets, when the money used belonged to the people of Delhi.
“The public had hoped that their tax money would be used for building roads, schools, and hospitals. Instead, their hard-earned money was diverted towards so-called free schemes,” Ms. Gupta said.
The CM also claimed that “not a single new flyover was built and no major road project was completed” under the AAP rule, despite the availability of funds.
Ms. Gupta said several centrally funded schemes – including the Affordable Housing Scheme, National AYUSH Mission, PM Vishwakarma Yojana, PM SHRI School Scheme, and PM SVANidhi Scheme – were left unutilised by the previous government. “The funds were provided by the Centre, but the AAP government neither used them nor allowed them to reach the public. Eventually, the Centre had to directly approach the beneficiaries,” she said.
Accusing the previous government of having a political bias, Ms. Gupta said, “The reason they ignored development projects was because many of them were associated with the Prime Minister. Such was the extent of their malice.”
Step-motherly treatment
Responding to the charges, Leader of the Opposition Atishi countered that Delhi’s own tax revenue had steadily increased year-on-year since 2019-20. She alleged that the decline in total revenue was due to the Centre withholding the share due to Delhi.
“Maharashtra contributed ₹7.6 lakh crore in taxes and received ₹52,000 crore in return. Karnataka gave ₹4.5 lakh crore and got ₹45,000 crore back. Delhi contributes ₹2.25 lakh crore every year, yet it receives only ₹850 crore. And for the last three years, not even that amount has been released,” she said, calling it “step-motherly treatment” by the Centre.
Later, in a statement, Atishi alleged that her microphone was cut off in the House when she began speaking on the issue. “The moment I began to expose how the Centre gives thousands of crores to States like Maharashtra and Karnataka but not a single rupee to Delhi, my mic was switched off,” she claimed.
She challenged the current government to act on its alliance with the BJP-led Centre. “Delhi is now under a ‘four-engine’ BJP government. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta must demand ₹50,000 crore from her own party’s government at the Centre,” Ms. Atishi said.
Published – August 08, 2025 12:58 am IST
