Housing and City Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri Friday hit out at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for enjoying “revdi politics”, saying the Aam Aadmi Occasion chief had a “gold medal” in promising freebies.
Puri, talking at a press convention in Kochi on the sidelines of the Ministry’s city mobility conclave, mentioned affordability of public transport was a call primarily based on effectivity and never populism.
Responding to a query on making Metro providers extra reasonably priced, Puri mentioned: “This strikes on the very coronary heart of revdi politics. When you take heed to my buddy, Mr. Kejriwal, who received a gold medal on the final Olympics for promising freebies, he’ll say ‘make the Metro completely free’ and can give the argument that as an alternative of 60 lakh, 90 lakh folks will journey and it’ll cut back air pollution.”
However, Puri mentioned, the Delhi Metro was began with a Rs 27,000 crore mortgage from Japan Worldwide Cooperation Company and the metro community within the Nationwide Capital Area might be expanded to the present 390 km as a result of the mortgage was being repaid.
“Fortunately Mr. Kejriwal doesn’t should run the Metro… Ask Mr. Kerjwial what he does with one thing that’s below him, the Delhi Transport Company. It has a sanction for 11,000 buses, however solely 3,000 are plying… Earlier than each election, he’ll come round and say ‘I’m getting new buses’,” Puri mentioned.
In response to a different query, Puri mentioned that with the state of the air high quality in Delhi, he could transfer to Kerala. “The best way my buddy Mr. Kejriwal has created air pollution in Delhi, I might somewhat dwell in some a part of inexperienced Kerala the place the air is cleaner and you’ll get pleasure from nature higher,” Puri mentioned.
In the meantime, requested in regards to the building of the brand new Parliament constructing, which was scheduled to be accomplished this month, Puri mentioned it was progressing effectively. “I am going there each week… The work goes at a really quick tempo. We’ve got one thing like 4,000 folks working around the clock. However whether or not the date shall be ‘x’ or 10 days later or 5 days earlier, these are bulletins the federal government has to make.”