Government introduced scheme to hide inefficacy: BJP chief Manoj Tiwari

The Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of deflecting attention away from his government's inefficacy in arresting pollution by introducing the Odd-Even scheme. It also went on to clarify that the BJP does not want to indulge in politics over the matter but the recent incident of an AAP leader in Punjab burning stubble there reflects the party's lack of interest in conserving the environment.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari also expressed his surprise over the dates finalised by AAP to initiate the scheme. He said that while the AAP declared an emergency situation in view of the rising smog levels, implementing it on November 13 make little sense.

"Kejriwal announced the scheme on November 9, touting it as an exigency. However, he is rolling it out a few days later. How would the city benefit then when its reeling under unprecedented pollution levels now?" he said, adding that the scheme did not bear the kind of results that Kejriwal had proclaimed when the government had brought in the scheme in 2016.

"The National Green Tribunal had also expressed doubts over the timing and necessity of bringing it back this month," he added.

Tiwari also said that the AAP government failed to take any proactive measures to combat pollution which led to the current situation. Emphasising upon the role of public transport in reducing pollution levels, he said that the AAP government failed to make public transport system more robust.

He clarified that the BJP was not opposed to the scheme but doubted whether the government was keen on implementing it with full spirit.