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Updated May 9th, 2021 at 22:24 IST

Hardeep Puri outs AAP's expenditure on publicity: 'It'll exceed cost of Central Vista'

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri took a dig at the Aam Aadmi Party for the money spent on its publicity since the beginning of 2021

Reported by: Koushik Narayanan
Hardeep Singh Puri
PTI image composite | Image:self
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Union Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri took a dig at the Aam Aadmi Party for the money spent on its publicity since the beginning of 2021 and said that it was trivia for Arvind Kejriwal's party to mull upon. As per an RTI enquiry shared by the Union Minister on Sunday, the Delhi government had reportedly spent Rs 32.52 cr, Rs 25.33 cr, and Rs 92.48 cr in the months of January, February, and March respectively.

Noting that the AAP govt's expenditure was Rs 150 crores in the first three months of the year, Hardeep Singh Puri claimed that the money spent on Arvind Kejriwal's self-publicity would exceed the cost of completed New Parliament Building & Central Vista Avenue. 

Hardeep Singh Puri takes a dig at AAP

Amid severe criticism for allowing the Central Vista project to proceed even as India battled the second wave of COVID, Hardeep Singh Puri had earlier this week stated that the government had allocated nearly twice the amount for vaccination. He had noted that India’s healthcare budget for just this year was over ₹3 lakh crore. “We know our priorities. There are hundreds of projects being executed by various depts. Governance hasn’t come to a standstill, unlike the Congress’s times of policy paralysis,” Puri had tweeted.

The Union Minister had also come down heavily on the Congress for playing ‘cheap politics’ over the Central Vista project and had termed it as the party’s tactic to distract people from ‘monumental governance failures’ in their states. Calling Congress’s discourse on Central Vista ‘bizarre’, the Minister had pointed out that the cost of redeveloping the avenue has been above ₹20,000 crores, over several years. “Central Vista is just another ongoing project. It’s only the Congress that’s obsessed about it, nobody else. Moreover, only projects for the New Parliament Building and rejuvenation of Central Vista Avenue have been awarded at an estimated cost of ₹862 crores and ₹477 crores respectively till now,” Puri had said in a tweet.

SC refuses to intervene in plea seeking stay on Central Vista construction

Refusing to intervene, Supreme Court on Friday, disposed off a plea seeking a stay on the construction work of the Central Vista project amid the COVID crisis in Delhi. The petitioner represented by advocate Siddharth Luthra argued that amid a 'public emergency' the construction must be deferred by 3-4 weeks. The SC opined that as the matter is pending before the Delhi HC, the SC asked Luthra to ask the Delhi HC on Monday to take up the matter at its earliest.

Luthra said, "How come at a time when there is a health emergency in the country, construction activity can go on? The situation is bad and labourers are in health camps. We are facing a humanitarian crisis. If construction activity will be deferred for 3 - 4 weeks, it will serve the purpose. Since there is a public health emergency, let the matter be taken by the Delhi High Court on May 10".

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Published May 9th, 2021 at 22:24 IST

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